Ghumar Mandi shopkeepers Close Shop protest against Municipal Corporation state govt note

Ghumar Mandi shopkeepers Close Shop protest against Municipal Corporation state govt note

Ghumar Mandi shopkeepers Close Shop protest against Municipal Corporation state govt note

Ludhiana : After the Municipal Corporation (MC) sealed two shops at Ghumar Mandi over non-payment of change of land use (CLU) charges, shopkeepers staged a protest against the state government and the civic body authorities by shutting their shops.

 

Shopkeepers staged a dharna at Ghumar Mandi Chowk and raised slogans against the state government and the MC. They also carried out a protest march in the area.

Infuriated over sealing of the shops, protesters alleged that the MC’s move of issuing notices to shopkeepers regarding the CLU charges wass unethical and illegal. Shopkeepers demanded that the government should cancel the CLU notices at the earliest otherwise, they would be forced to intensify their agitation.

Ghumar Mandi shopkeepers protest against Municipal Corporation state govt note

Sandeep Wadhwa, coordinator of all associations of the Ghumar Mandi market said, “During this coronavirus crisis, the state government and the MC are putting burden on shopkeepers, who are already facing financial losses. Shops in the Ghumar Mandi market, an oldest market of Punjab, are decades old and the area is already commercial. I want to question on what basis the MC has sent notices to shopkeepers to pay the CLU charges?”

“Our ward councillor Gurpreet Gogi held a meeting with the Mayor and MC officials wherein we were assured that the civic body will not take any action. The MC’s move of sealing shops is wrong. The notices are illegal and unethical. The notices are being sent without any basis. If our voice is not heard, we will move court,” he added.

Councillor’s voice goes unheard

Coming in favour of Ghumar Mandi shopkeepers, a senior Congress leader and councillor from Ward No. 76, Gurpreet Gogi held a meeting with the Mayor and MC officials last month and appealed to them not to charge any CLU fee from shopkeepers as of now. But, the MC started a sealing drive from Ghumar Mandi.

 

Gogi, who is chairman, Punjab Small Industries and Export Corporation (PSIEC), said, “I had asked Mayor and MC officials that on what basis CLU notices are being served against shops that are 40 to 50 years old. I had also questioned them whether any order has been issued by the government regarding the CLU or the MC General House has given any approval in this regard? If there is no such rule, it is totally wrong to seal shops.”

According to Municipal Town Planner (MTP) SS Bindra, the MC had served around 2,300 notices to shopkeepers in the city for the recovery of pending CLU charges from them.

“Around 55% shopkeepers in Ghumar Mandi have already deposited the CLU fee with the MC. Only those shopkeepers are staging protest, who don’t want to pay CLU charges to the MC. Earlier, the MC had started a drive to serve notices to shopkeepers from the Ghumar Mandi area. That’s why sealing has been started from the same area first,” said Bindra.