The Hindu 04.04.2013
Marina beach clean-up: civic body says it needs three months
The Chennai Corporation is proposing to frame a scheme
for hawkers on Marina Beach that will not affect their livelihood and
will also provide certain facilities to beach-users.
This
will be done in a regulated manner so it does not have an adverse
impact on the environment as well as on local hygiene and sanitation.
This
was the civic body’s response before the First Bench of the Madras High
Court comprising acting Chief Justice R.K. Agrawal and Justice N. Paul
Vasanthakumar, to a writ petition by K. Balaji, president, Gandhiji
Consumer Forum.
The petitioner said that Marina Beach
was in a pathetic and shabby condition. Foreign tourists were afraid of
coming to the beach. Through their negligence, the authorities had
allowed hundreds of small shops and vendors to operate all over the
beach. Because of their failure to implement the Food Safety and
Standards Act, substandard and unhygienic food was being sold there.
During
the last hearing, the Bench had granted an interim injunction,
restraining the authorities from allowing anybody to operate businesses
and run shops, eateries, etc on the entire stretch of the Marina so as
to maintain its pristine beauty.
When the matter came
up again, the petitioner submitted that in spite of the interim order,
no action had been taken by the Corporation to evict the temporary
shops.
In its counter, the Corporation Commissioner
said the civic body had not allowed anybody to run businesses on the
beach. It did not collect any rent or fees from any of them. The hawkers
were doing business there without permission. The Corporation proposed
to regulate the hawkers by prohibiting the installation of any permanent
structures. It had started an enumeration of the hawkers and required
at least three months to implement the scheme.
Following
this, the court adjourned the matter to June 4 to enable the
Corporation to show progress in the implementation of its proposed
scheme.