Chennai: Regularisation of shops at Marina beach was intensified on Thursday with heavy machines being used to lift and shift the shops. Chennai corporation officials say the shops are planned to be settled in seven rows and add that such raids will be conducted at regular intervals thereafter to discourage new shops coming up. The shop regularisation work is an ongoing one for the local body.
The corporation takes steps now and then to regularise and clear shops that sprout during busy seasons. But, they are again scattered after some time, says an official.“Though there was not much coordination from the hawkers here, they don’t say anything when their shops are lifted and shifted. They even help in carrying their things,” says the official, adding that the shops were planned to be settled in seven rows. The shopkeepers were also given three days’ grace time to relocate their shops.
However, no time-frame has been marked to complete the process. Also, such raids are going to be conducted at regular intervals, he said.“The complaint is we are scattered everywhere thereby blocking people’s access to the beach,” said Muthumari Lakshmanan, who sells chaat snacks on the beach. But as hawkers are spread out across the beach, incidences of chain-snatching and harassment are much less, he said.
Lining up the shops will ultimately affect the safety of the public who will suffer without light in the evenings, notes Arumugam, an ice-cream seller at Marina.This year, the corporation took up the issue following repeated complaints from local resident groups, regular beach-goers and a few NGOs, on the mushrooming of new shops during summer months. These shops came up on the pavement or on the sands of Marina preventing walkers and fitness enthusiasts from carrying on their routine.
