New Delhi Municipal Council may seal 30 leading restaurants and several other shops located on the first floor and floors above it in Khan Market today. The monitoring committee appointed by Supreme Court has ordered NDMC to execute the task as these shops have violated the provisions of the 2021 master plan.
The committee has done an inspection after which it has given orders to seal the first and above floors of Khan Market as it is considered as the misuse of land. As per the rule, the shop owners will have to pay use conversion charge to the council.
whatsuplifeThe conversion charges are Rs 22,274 per square metre and traders who are running commercial shops above ground floor will have to pay these charges to the local body. Earlier, the conversion rates were Rs 89,000 which are not cut down to Rs 22,274 by Delhi Development Authority.
The traders will have to pay the ‘use conversion charges’ if they are running their shops on a plot that is for the residential purpose so that they can convert it into a commercial one.
The officials have stated that ‘use conversion charges’ is a one-time payment. However, the conversion rates will be paid annually for the development of the market and parking facilities.
Khan Market has come under the radar after monitoring committee has alleged that the local shopping complex is not following the fire safety rules. They have also alleged that some restaurants in the market do not even have clearance from the fire department.
The committee has ordered the civic bodies to collect use conversion charges from almost 106 local shopping complexes in Delhi by 15 January 2017. If the shop owners failed to do so, the market will be sealed. The president of Khan Market Traders Association, Sanjiv Mehra has stated that 40 shop owners have already converted their shops as they have paid the conversion charges.
After the fire incident of Kamala Mills, New Delhi Municipal Council and monitoring committee has become more alert and trying to execute their master plan 2021 sooner than ever.
Avni S. Singh