GHAZIABAD: The Indirapuram Habitat Centre opened for the time being on Friday after the 100-odd shop owners at the retail hub told the Ghaziabad Development Authority they would give it the monthly rent that they paid the developer for so long.The shop owners on Friday gave the GDA a little over Rs 2 crore that they said was the monthly rent for the 100-odd shops. Within hours, the GDA opened phase I of the IHC, which was sealed nine days ago after the developer accrued tax dues worth Rs 113 crore.“We opened phase I of the IHC after the shop owners deposited Rs 2.05 crore to the GDA,” said Ritu Maheshwari, vice-chairperson of the GDA. “The sealing of phases 2 and 3 will continue until the IHC owner comes up with a plan to deposit the Rs 113 crore it owes the GDA in the form of property tax and compounding charge,” Maheshwari added.Earlier in the day, the shop owners met the GDA vice-chairperson and pleaded with her that they were facing losses worth lakhs for no fault of theirs. “We told her we would be paying Rs 2 crore every month, what we used to pay the builder as monthly rent. This will continue until the IHC developer settles the dues,” said Anuj Mittal, who owns a shop at the habitat centre.The sealing of phases 2 and 3 of the IHC will have little effect on the traders as these portions of the retail hub are under construction.“I am yet to hear from the IHC owner about his plan to settle the dues. None of them has approached us till now,” said Maheshwari. “We are considering the shopkeepers’ proposal of paying a monthly rent to the GDA instead of giving it to the IHC owner. A decision in this regard will be taken up very soon,” she added.IHC general manager Yudhveer Singh said the developer would soon come up with a plan to settle the dues. “I am still not privy to what transpired in a meeting between the GDA and the developer recently. But I am given to understand that we will very soon come up with a plan to clear the dues,” Singh said.However, there was a momentary sense of relief among the shop owners, who performed a puja and clicked selfies. “More than anything else, it is a sense of relief that matters. Until now, there was a sense of uncertainty for the past nine days. Our livelihood was at stake” said Madhur Gupta, a trader.

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