Corporation officials evicted encroachments put up by
around 50 shopkeepers in the Mattuthavani Integrated Bus Stand here on
Tuesday.

Besides warning those shopkeepers who had
unilaterally provided second entrance to their shops, they had also been
asked to remove stoves and cooking gas cylinders kept in the shops
without proper permission from the local body.

During
the surprise inspection, Corporation Deputy Commissioner K. Sambhavi
found that several shops had spread out their paraphernalia outside
their shops. Most of them had kept the showcases used to display their
articles and eatables that were protruding into the corridors causing
hindrance to movement of people.

Chief Town Planning
Officer M. Rakkappan and his men removed those showcases that were
wall-mounted, violating the norms. The encroachments were removed in the
presence of a police team led by the Assistant Commissioner of Police
S. Velladurai.

While some of the traders’
representatives tried to claim that a Corporation official had allowed
them to keep their things few feet outside the shop, the Deputy
Commissioner said that any such permission that violated the rules was
not valid.

The traders also tried to stop the
eviction exercise claiming that the High Court had restrained police not
to prevent using of cooking gas cylinders, the officials shot back that
only the Corporation officials were involved in the eviction. “We
wonder how the shops were using cooking gas cylinders without obtaining
Dangerous and Objectionable Trade license from the Corporation. Besides,
there was no fire-fighting equipment around the shops where hundreds of
people visit everyday,” Ms. Sambhavi said. The officials have also
issued notices to the shopkeepers who had altered the buildings by
providing an additional entrance to their shops to restore the
structures to their original plan within two days.

Anti-plastic raid

Meanwhile,
Assistant Health Officer Priyaraj conducted raids on around 30 shops in
West Masi Street and near Periyar bus stand for selling and
distributing plastic products below 40 micron thickness.

The
Corporation, through a resolution passed in the council, has banned
sale and usage of plastic cups and carry-bags below 40 microns with
effect from September 1 as they were causing pollution. The officials
seized banned plastic products worth Rs. 50,000 and levied a fine of Rs.
5,000 on violators. The officials were armed with screw-gauge to
measure the thickness of plastic products.

Commercial
establishments have been directed not to distribute plastic carry bags
beyond 40 microns free of cost. Instead, they should sell them for a
prescribed rate as a measure to discourage people from using them. The
shops have been asked to put up boards that “no carry bag would be given
free of cost.”The officials have planned to levy fine on individuals also who use carry bags.