The Times of India                    11.03.2013

Despite failures, corporation says it will evict hawkers in 4 months

CHENNAI: The city corporation appears to be working on the motto "Better late than never". After several failed attempts, the civic body on Thursday informed the Madras high court that all illegal shops across the city will be removed in four months.

In T Nagar, one of the localities most affected by hawkers and illegal shops, the move has brought faint smiles on the faces of residents. Shanthi Nagarajan of T Nagar said the move is welcome as long as it is implemented effectively. "The traffic here is always heavy but as hawkers eat up the pavements, pedestrians take to the road leaving little space for vehicles."

Corporation officials said that the eviction drive will begin across the city soon. "We have received the number on encroachments from the traffic police. We will take severe action against hawkers." They also say that there has not been enough cooperation by police to keep hawkers away. "We have been conducting eviction drives regularly in the last few years but they always return to the spot after a few days. We cannot always keep an eye on the hawkers. It is also the duty of police," said a corporation official.

To add to the problem of pavements being occupied by hawkers, a study by a city-based NGO has found that most pavements in the city are less than 1.5m wide. A study conducted in 10 zones of the city by Transparent Chennai found that about 40% of the 830-km footpath in localities like Mylapore and T Nagar are less than 1m wide. Besides unauthorised parking of vehicles, electrical junction boxes, garbage bins and streetlights also take up space on the pavements.

The city has about 3,966 licenced hawkers in 31 designated areas, including Habib Ahamed Market, Chinnathambi Street, North Usman Road and Pantheon Road. But unofficial statistics show that their numbers go over 10,000. And if the Street Vendors Bill is passed in Parliament during this session the city could get up to 1.62 lakh licenced hawkers. This will bring the spotlight on the two multi-storied hawker's complexes in T-Nagar and Ayanavaram which are yet to be opened.