Traders' one day strike in Indian capital

November 7, 2006

Angry traders continued to protest against the Supreme Court's order in favour of resuming the sealing drive in New Delhi. They damaged public property and blocked traffic during the protest.

Police halted over 1,500 traders from various part of the city who were vandalising public transport by blocking and pelting stones on the roads after the SC's order to resume the drive.

According to CNN-IBN, the drive will affect about 5,40,000 shops and 27,00,000 traders across the city. Praveen Khandelwal, secretary general of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), said that the resumption of the drive is a complete breakdown of the government and administration. So, they had to take extreme steps to oppose the drive.

The traders protested from all over the city including Kamla Nagar in North Delhi, Mayur Vihar, Vikas Marg, Seelampur in East Delhi, Green Park, South Extension, Lajpat Nagar in South Delhi, Rajouri Garden, Rohini in West Delhi and Karol Bagh in Central Delhi.

Most of the schools in New Delhi remained closed today, and the sealing drive was halted. The Group of Ministers, headed by Shivraj Patil are planning to meet with SC's monitoring committee to work out the sealing schedule in the capital.