Nearly 5,700 properties sealed in Delhi since December for violating Master Plan, Lok Sabha told

New Delhi: Nearly 5,700 properties have so far been sealed by three municipal corporations as part of a sealing drive for allegedly violating provisions of Delhi's Master Plan, following directions of a Supreme Court-appointed monitoring committee, the Lok Sabha was informed Tuesday.In a written reply to a question, Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said North and South Delhi Municipal Corporations have sealed 2,655 and 1,995 properties, while 1,043 properties sealed by East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) after the December 2017 judgement of the apex court.[caption id="attachment_4483161" align="alignleft" width="380"]

Representational image. Reuters[/caption]According to the minister, the three civic bodies have informed that they are taking demolition and sealing actions against the properties found in violation of the provisions of the Delhi Master Plant 2021 and Unified Building Bylaws-2016 on the instruction of monitoring committee.The sealing drive was launched by the three municipal corporations in late December 2017. Traders called bandh several times to protest the action against their establishments.To provide relief to traders, the ministry on June 21 notified amendments to MPD-2021 increasing the Floor Area Ration (FAR) for construction carried out beyond permissible limits.Puri also informed the Lok Sabha that the Special Task Force (STF), formed under the chairmanship of DDA vice-chairman for removal of encroachments in Delhi, has also removed encroachments on a total area under permanent structures measuring around 1,99,382.3 sq m.The STF has commissioners of all the three municipal corporations as its members.Total areas, which were cleared under temporary structures, were around 6,52,308.3 sq m while roads, street and footpath measuring 1,280.615 kilometres were cleared in the national capital.In Delhi, 5,964 vehicles and 15,892 items were confiscated during the anti-encroachment drive in the national capital.