Chennai: In violation of repeated orders of Madras high court to clear existing encroachments on NSC Bose Road, Greater Chennai Corporation has allocated 60 stalls to hawkers in an open space behind the Flower Bazaar police station.
As the new vending zones are not officially demarcated, making these allotments is illegal. It will also add to the congestion of the area, which is already full of roadside vendors, flower stalls and eateries, blocking the entire pavements and much of the road space. Polie said that at least 5,000 vehicles, including buses, pass through this route every hour.
The ‘allotment’ comes as 288 illegal vendors selling food and juice at the 3.5-acre Broadway bus terminus are being evicted for metro’s multi-modal complex project. While 60 stalls were allocated at the congested Rattan Bazaar Road-NSC Bose Road junction, others are being moved to areas near Evening Bazaar Road and Fort Railway Station.
Illegally parked vehicles narrow the already congested 10-foot-wide lane near Flower Bazaar to just five or six feet, while about 50 flower and fruit vendors occupy the five-foot pavements.
Advocate N Rukamangathan, who filed multiple PILs against encroachments, condemned the move, saying, “The high court took suo motu cases to remove encroachments from this road. The parking lot itself is illegal, as local mafia collects money for truck and van parking. Now, GCC is permitting shops here. Officials involved in this must be punished,” he said.
Regional deputy commissioner (North) Katta Ravi Teja, however, said the parking lot would be relocated to the Evening Bazaar Road junction. “Since buses no longer use this area, we’ve allotted the space to vendors. Traffic flow will be lighter, and the terminus will be cleared of vendors by Jan,” he said.
GCC commissioner J Kumaragurubaran cited legal provisions under the Street Vendors Act that mandates vendors to be relocated within the same neighbourhood to protect their livelihoods.
Sambath Balan, former assistant commissioner of traffic enforcement at Flower Bazaar, highlighted previous failed attempts to relocate vendors to Fort Station. “Local groups influence these decisions, leading to legal battles. Strict enforcement will be necessary to ensure traffic moves smoothly if stalls are allowed,” he said.
