M F AHMAD
Daltonganj, Aug 22: Medininagar Municipal Corporation officials today sealed 32 shops for non-payment of rent over the last many years in some cases for over 20 years.
Municipal Commissioner Sameera S said among the 32 shops sealed today, 28 are in the main market and the remaining 4 are on the station road in Daltonganj.
We sealed these shops today when our 4 notices to each of these shops to clear all pending dues in respect of the rent were ignored by the owners,” said the municipal commissioner.
The municipal commissioner said this that now owners of the shops will have to pay the entire pending rent in one go.
“It will be a one-time payment for dues only and no installment is allowed as time for installment has elapsed all due to the ignoring of our 4 notices served to these shop owners in the past,” she said.
The Municipal Commissioner further said these shop owners are very big defaulters and have no qualms about paying the rent.
City manager Pradeep Kumar told lagatar24.com today that more than Rs 11,50,000 as rent is unpaid by 28 shops located in the prime market here in Daltonganj.
Similarly, more than Rs 2 lakh is unpaid as rent by the 4 shops located on the station road.
The city manager admitted that these 32 shop owners were dragging on our rent from as far off the year as 2002, 2007, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019.
The Medininagar municipal corporation officials were careful in pursuance of the sealing procedure as all the 32 shops were sealed in the presence of the magistrate deputed for this purpose. Sources said seals can only be withdrawn only when the pending dues of rent are cleared.
The city manager admitted there were noises when the sealing of the shops was on but all went peacefully. There was a posse of police force accompanying the magistrate and the team of the corporation officials out to seal the shops.
