GHAZIABAD: The 100-odd shop owners of Indirapuram Habitat Centre, which was sealed by the Ghaziabad Development Authority over non-payment of tax dues of Rs 49 crore, staged a protest in front of the building on Thursday. They demanded that they be allowed to open their outlets from Friday.The traders, who launched the protest under the banner of Indirapuram Habitat Centre Retailers’ Association, said they would collectively lose Rs 2 crore daily if the shops remained closed. They wrote to GDA vice-chairperson Ritu Maheshwari, suggesting that the authority should seal that part of the building which is vacant. The protesters said they had either bought the shops at the habitat centre or taken them on lease and had been carrying on with their trade peacefully for the past two years.“On Wednesday the administration shut it down without giving us any prior notice. At present, commercial activity is going on in 40% of the building. The GDA’s action is costing the shopowners dear without any fault of theirs. There are slim chances of the administration and the developer reaching a solution in the near future. So, the administration should have sealed the 60% of the building which is lying vacant at present to recover its dues of Rs 49 crore,” the letter to Maheshwari states.The GDA had said on Thursday it had sent three notices to the developer of the habitat centre.Puneet Katphal, vice-president of the association formed by the traders, said: “The GDA’s action is completely illegal. Earlier, following the Allahabad high court’s order, the developer had deposited Rs 70 crore and the authority was asked not to take any action until further notice.”“Many of us have bought space here after taking loans from banks and are paying EMI every month. Along with us, the livelihood of over 1,000 workers employed at the shops has been affected. It is causing us a mental harassment. We will carry out a protest on Friday too. Every day, we are losing Rs 2 crore in sales while the government is suffering a loss of Rs 25 lakh in Goods and Services Taxes,” Kathpal added.

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