Coaching centres yet to shift, South Ex locals protest

New Delhi: Residents of South Extension Part-I on Tuesday morning took out a protest march against the civic body's failure to evict "illegal" coaching institutes from their area. Last month, the Supreme Court had ruled that coaching institutes in residential areas must shift to commercial premises.Dozens of residents held placards and walked through E, F and H blocks. The Residents' Welfare Association said the South Corporation had not complied with the court orders. "These institutes take residential properties for rent for a few thousand rupees and charge lakhs as fee. There are so many two-wheelers and four-wheelers in the area during peak hours, leading to huge traffic jams ," said Harish Malik, president RWA.The civic body, however, claimed the matter was not as simple as it appeared. According to the Master Plan 2021, coaching centers can be allowed to operate on roads less than 9m in width in all the colonies planned and developed before 1962. "We cannot take action against these coaching centres because an order passed by the LG has recognised this as a pre-1962 colony. The RWA has no merit in its argument, that is why the court hasn't ruled in their favour," said a corporation official.The Delhi HC, while disposing of a petition filed by the RWA in November 2014, had directed the South Corporation to inspect the locality within three months and take appropriate action if any misuse was found.