New Delhi, Sep 1 (IANS) In their quest to seal 45,000 commercial establishments in residential areas, Delhi's civic authorities Friday sealed 178 complexes in 12 zones even as traders stepped up protest.

According to Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) a maximum of 57 complexes were sealed in the Shahdara (North) zone, followed by 31 properties in Sadar Paharganj zone.

Resuming the sealing drive after a gap of three months, authorities Friday targeted mainly hazardous and polluting units, amid protests from traders.

The process to re-seal the illegal commercial establishments began following an Aug 10 directive from the Supreme Court, which stayed the May 20 notification of the central government allowing one-year moratorium on all such activities.

"Acting upon the court directive, the drive will continue," said a MCD official adding that top civic officials including commissioner A.K. Nigam Friday met K.J. Rao, member of the apex court's monitoring committee.

Though the upmarket neighbourhoods in the national capital were spared today, all the areas will be targeted Saturday. However there were some protests from the traders in Sant Nagar and Zamrudpur in south zone.

The likely areas to be targeted Saturday include Greater Kailash I and II, Chittaranjan Park, Lajpat Nagar, Kalkaji, Defence Colony and Vasant Vihar.

The MCD has from Friday set up 24 special cells to receive complaints by residents giving information about such commercial premises in their areas. Mobile inspection teams will verify such complaints and initiate action against offenders.

However, the monitoring committee has given a reprieve to nearly 15 varieties of essential service providers like salons, kirana shops, and cyber cafes operating from residential areas. In addition professionals like lawyers, doctors and even astrologers, entire houses can now be used for these services.

The central government had on May 20 passed the Delhi Laws (Special Provision) Act that put a moratorium on the court-mandated demolition of illegal structures and sealing of commercial complexes in residential areas in the capital for a year.

However, on Aug 10 the Supreme Court, hearing a public interest litigation against the order, reprimanded the government for its legislation.

On Wednesday, the MCD submitted an action plan report to Delhi High Court informing about the setting up of a taskforce for each of the 12 zones to ensure that there is no delay in carrying out the demolitions and sealing. The civic body is to recruit junior engineers on contract basis to get over its staff shortage, an official said.