Multiple establishments in Khan Market have faced action during the recent sealing drive, but it hasn’t hit business.
New Delhi: The posh Khan Market has been a site of chaos since a sealing drive began Monday. However, the market was functioning normally when ThePrint visited it Wednesday, despite sections of around 19 establishments being sealed by civic authorities.
The market is home to popular restaurants and stores frequented by the who’s who of Lutyens’ Delhi. The establishments that faced action include restaurants such as The Chatter House, Civil House, Mamagoto and The Blue Door Cafe, and stores like FabIndia, Anita Dongre, Raghavendra Rathore and Sham Di Hatti among others.
Here’s a map of all the shops that faced action during the drive:
“Only the open courtyards or terraces of restaurants have come under scrutiny because of safety issues. The NDMC doesn’t want that someone consumes food or drink up there and an accident takes place,” said Sanjeev Mehta, president of the Khan Market Traders’ Association.
Mehta said he didn’t have complete knowledge yet of all the establishments that had faced action.
A visit to the market revealed that none of these establishments had ceased functioning due to the sealing drive, and only had some sections sealed.
“Civic officials visited the terrace area of every shop and restaurant in the inner lanes of the market,” an employee at one of the restaurants said on condition of anonymity. The employee said that only stores that were using terraces faced action.
An employee from Chatter House, one of the restaurants partially sealed, said only the walls of its terrace were flagged for being three inches higher than the mandated 13 inches. A red tape was put on the walls, but not much else was done, he said.
The FabIndia store had been using the terrace of the building it is housed in to store stocks, an employee of the shop said on condition of anonymity. The employee said they had been told to clear it, but added that it hadn’t affected the functioning of the shop in any way.
Stores at the nearby Khanna Market and Meharchand Market are likely to be next in line to face action.
Supreme Court directions
The partial sealing of stores was done on the orders of a Supreme Court-appointed committee.
Vijay Kumar Gautam, director of public relations and enforcement, NDMC, said the committee wanted to take stock of any illegal construction and misuse of property, and that the NDMC was working as per the court’s directions.
He said that the civic body had acted only after the committee had visited several market places in Delhi and noted down discrepancies in their functioning.
Gautam added that the drive to shut down illegal constructions in Khan Market would continue until action was taken against all shops that the Supreme Court committee had flagged.