NEW DELHI, 2 November 2006 — India’s top court yesterday halted a controversial drive to close illegal shops in the capital after three days of angry protests by thousands of shopkeepers.
The indefinite stay followed a six-hour meeting of a Supreme Court-appointed panel, which cited security concerns after protesters blocked traffic and threw stones at vehicles.
The shopkeepers were protesting against a September court ruling that ordered thousands of shops operating illegally in residential areas to be cleared. Under the order, some 44,000 shops were to be vacated today.
“The monitoring committee has decided that the sealing drive will not resume tomorrow (Thursday),” Deep Mathur, a spokesman for the municipal authority responsible for closing the shops, told the Press Trust of India news agency yesterday.
The move is a setback to attempts by city municipal authorities to restore a measure of order to the increasingly chaotic capital, where shops have been blamed for increasing traffic and noise in designated residential zones.
Earlier in the day, protesting traders stoned buses and blocked a national highway in Delhi. Police had to beat up protesters to clear a major blockade at “Noida Crossing” in the eastern area of the city.
Protesters squatted on the road, shouted slogans and also broke windows of at least three buses. No injuries were reported.
Though schools were open, attendance was thin. And most schools called parents to take their children back early when the violence erupted.
The municipal drive was aimed at targeting all commercial establishments in residential areas, including clinics. Displaying their opposition to the drive, over 2,600 private health clinics including nursing homes and around 30,000 doctors went on a daylong strike yesterday. “We are in a dilemma and our future is uncertain,” president of Delhi Medical Association K.K. Kapoor said. However, they had kept their emergency services open to help the people, Kapoor said.
The three-day strike began on Monday, closing New Delhi’s major markets, although some chemists and small stores have remained open.
The civic clean-up began earlier this year after the Supreme Court said shops on at least 2,000 city roads passing through residential areas were illegal and should be closed.
