Aam Aadmi Party’s Chief Spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj held a press conference on Friday to inform the media that the BJP-ruled MCD will be demolishing the MCD Market in the famous Gaffar Market area to reconstruct the complex and then sell the shops in a fresh manner while evicting the existing shopkeepers.
“The BJP-ruled MCD wants to evict shopkeepers who were given a lease of 99 years in 1976 and reconstruct it with a new builder who will sell these shops to new people instead.”
While addressing the press conference, he further said that the MCD did not carry out maintenance for 40 years and has now served an eviction notice to empty the market within 3 days. He questioned that if the shops were made using poor grade cement, is it the fault of the shopkeepers or the MCD who constructed this rubbish building? He told the gathering that the BJP-ruled MCD was conniving with the builder mafia and has similar plans for all such 39 markets in Delhi so that it can fill its pockets with crores of rupees before leaving the MCD.
Saurabh Bhardwaj said, “We have a few questions about this. If the shops were made using poor grade cement, is it the fault of those shopkeepers who bought it or the MCD who constructed this rubbish building? Secondly, if in the past 40 years the MCD did not check on its own building or spend even a single rupee on the repair- is it the fault of the shopkeepers or the MCD? Had they given these shops on freehold, then the shopkeeper could have spent their own money and repaired the building. However, they have given it on a lease, and thus, the shopkeepers do not have the power to repair and maintain it. So, the responsibility of maintenance falls on the MCD only. The MCD did not carry out maintenance for 40 years and now it has sent a notice to empty the market within three days so that the MCD can demolish and construct it again.”