The Delhi government on Wednesday sent the files related to 351 roads proposed to be notified under commercial and mixed-use categories to save traders from an ongoing sealing drive to Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal for approval."Sending the files pertaining to 351 roads to the L-G today, as soon as we received the proposal from MCDs ( Municipal Corporations). As soon as the L-G's approval is obtained, it will be presented before the SC (Supreme Court) for approval," Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have been blaming each other for not notifying these roads.The sealing drive going on in areas other than these 351 roads is against businesses using residential areas for commercial purposes without paying conversion charges.
It is being carried out by a Supreme Court-appointed Monitoring Committee and implemented by the three municipal corporations.Once approved by the Lt Governor, the files will be returned to the Delhi government and forwarded thereafter to the Supreme Court.Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition and BJP MLA Vijender Gupta said that the AAP's Delhi government was sitting on the files related to 351 roads and was forced to send them to the Lt Governor due to opposition pressure. Last week, the Commissioners of the three BJP-ruled MCDs had said that they were yet to authenticate a survey of 351 roads, which was delaying the notification process. On Wednesday, a Delhi government spokesperson told IANS that Delhi Urban Development Minister Satyendar Jain received the files related to the 351 roads from the MCDs earlier in the day. "The Minister sent the files to the L-G within an hour of receiving it from the MCDs," he said.