Date:23/08/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/08/23/stories/2008082359140300.htm

Front Page

Hawkers’relocation creates more chaos

Staff Reporter

The already congested Thanikachalam Road-Thyagaraya Road junction becomes worse

— Photo: R. Shivaji rao

PAVEMENT LOST: The temporary relocation of hawkers from Pondy Bazaar has left pedestrians in the lurch on the busy Thanikachalam Road-Thyagaraya Road junction.

CHENNAI: Relocating hawkers from Pondy Bazaar to Thanikachalam Road has led to more chaos in the already congested Thanikachalam Road-Thyagaraya Road junction.

Dozens of buses moving in and out of T. Nagar must pass Thanikachalam Road. The traffic signal provided at this junction has remained unused since its installation as officials felt it hampered free flow of vehicles.

Though only a couple of hawkers have relocated, a few others have built shacks on the pavement leaving no room for pedestrian movement. Some hawkers have created a low platform of brick and cement on the allotted pavement and a few have installed shutters.

The open shacks provide parking space for two-wheelers.

A shopkeeper on Thanikachalam Road said he had paid Rs.30,000 for an 11-month lease and was paying a monthly rent of Rs.3,500.

Though the sales had been slow, he says it would pick up in the coming days, once everyone had relocated.

Corporation Commissioner Rajesh Lakhoni said the hawkers were required to pay a monthly rent of Rs.100 and that too was paid directly to the Hawking Committee, instituted by the High Court to implement and monitor the recommendations made to relocate and regulate hawkers in the city.

“The Corporation’s role is only to facilitate,” he pointed out. Asked if the decision to relocate hawkers on Thanikachalam Road was taken after considering the hindrance it would cause to pedestrians, motorists and the hawkers themselves as their sales would be affected, he said it was the decision of the Madras High Court.

A Corporation official said the civic body could appeal against the move to relocate hawkers on busy stretches, but by the time the appeal came up for hearing, the civic body would have finished the construction of the multi-storeyed complex to house the hawkers in Pondy Bazaar and on Usman Road.