Indian Express 23.11.2010
Put on notice, fate of 21 Paharganj guesthouses to be decided today
Express News Service Tags : MCD, Delhi Hotel Mahasangh, Renu Jagdev Posted: Tue Nov 23 2010, 03:26 hrs
New Delhi: As many as 21 of the 60 Paharganj guesthouses which were served notices by the MCD for running from residential areas without paying conversion tax seem to have got a breather till Tuesday. After coming under criticism for the Lalita Park disaster, the MCD had cracked its whip on the guesthouses in Paharganj, a popular destination for budget travellers in the city with around 700 guesthouses.On November 18, the civic body had sent notices to the guesthouses saying they were being used for commercial purposes despite being located on residential roads and that they have not been paying any conversion charges. In the first phase of the crackdown by MCD, 21 guesthouses were given 48 hours to send in their replies. The deadline ended on Monday, but the agency did not go ahead with the sealing as the owners requested for more time to file their replies.
The Delhi Hotel Mahasangh told Newsline that it will be meeting Deputy Commissioner (Sadar) Renu Jagdev on Tuesday to discuss several issues “ignored” in the notice. The owners claimed they did not register themselves as commercial properties because they come under the Special Area, outlined in the yet-to-be implemented Delhi Masterplan 2021. “The status quo has to be maintained till the masterplan is approved by the Supreme Court,” said Mahasangh general secretary Arun Gupta.
The guesthouse owners refused to speak to the media, but members of the Mahasangh said these guesthouses have been running for many years and the MCD was following a ‘pick and choose’ policy to harass them. “Every year, the MCD comes up with new rules for licensing. We will have to sort out all these problems,” added Gupta. He, however, said there were nearly 150 unlicensed guesthouses in Paharganj and the 21 guesthouses may be a part of the list. These guesthouses are located on tiny alleyways near the New Delhi Railway Station and are mostly three storeys tall. Jagdev, meanwhile, said papers related to each guesthouse will be treated individually and properties whose replies don’t come in by Tuesday may face the axe.
