“All the five commercial establishments were operating illegally from residential premises. We have sealed them today. The sites were approved for residential purpose. Commercial activities from these sites are strictly prohibited under the Uttar Pradesh Urban Development (Regulation Act),” said LDA vice-chairman N S Ravi.

Around 17 illegal commercial establishments are still operating along the same road. “In the next drive that will resume shortly, we will be targeting such establishments,” he added.  

The commercial establishments sealed by the LDA included a school (Little Rainbow School at 11A), an event management centre (Katha event management and publicity centre at 19), a software company (Spicenet, 46/2) alongwith the offices of Amway and Country club at 44/45 and 1/67.

According to LDA officials, the occupants of these commercial establishments were paying over Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000 per month to the owners of the houses.

Occupants of the commercial establishments claimed that they did not know about the “land use plan”. “We would have never opted for these sites if we knew about the actual status. We need to verify the nature of agreement we entered with the owner of the house,” said Srinivasan, an official with country club.  

The LDA vice-chairman also announced to initiate action against the owners of the houses who rent out their houses for commercial activities.

“The owners of such houses will not be spared as they hide the information about the land use while renting out their establishments,” said Ravi.  

Although LDA said that eviction notices were served to the occupants, the latter alleged no such notices have been sent by the LDA.