CHENNAI: A delay in the completion of the Greater Chennai Corporation’s (GCC) Rs 27.3-crore pedestrian plaza project on Monegar Choultry Road (MC Road) has dealt a severe blow to businesses, triggering job losses and causing prolonged inconvenience to residents and shoppers, with the project overshooting its original 18-month deadline by several months.
Traders in one of north Chennai’s busiest textile and garment hubs said that business activity had shrunk drastically since the work began more than two years ago, forcing hundreds of establishments to down shutters and many workers to accept part-time employment or lose their jobs altogether.
The pedestrian plaza is being developed under GCC’s Mega Streets initiative along the 1-km stretch between Cemetery Road Junction and BSNL Junction. The project includes decorative lighting, signage, entry plazas, pedestrian crossings, pick-up and drop-off bays, an entrance arch, a children’s play area and cobblestone walls on either side of the road.
R Mohamed Farook, secretary, Madras Washermenpet Cut Piece Cloth Merchants’ Association, said that more than 3,000 wholesale, semi-wholesale and retail shops operate on MC Road and Gollavar Agaram Road (GA Road). “Before the project started, the area generated business worth nearly Rs 300 crore. Over the last two years, it has fallen to around Rs 100 crore,” he rued. “I had to lay off nearly 50% of my workers and engage some only on a part-time basis. More than 20% of businesses have already shut down. Around 600 shops have closed so far. If the delay continues, more establishments may be forced to shut.”
A Sowmiya, a resident of Korukkupet employed at a garment shop on MC Road, said her employer shifted her to part-time work because of poor sales. “I now earn only Rs 200 a day, of which nearly Rs 100 is spent on transport. With the LC 2A railway overbridge work also under way, buses take longer to reach the area,” she said.
B Kumar, another worker, said the project had widened footpaths while reducing carriageway space. “There is also no designated parking facility for customers, which discourages people from visiting the market,” he opined.
A senior GCC official told DT Next, that around 75% of the project had been completed and work was progressing at full pace. “We expect to complete the remaining works by the end of September and open the pedestrian plaza in October,” the official said. “The work was suspended during the Deepavali and Pongal festivals. The northeast monsoon, a local temple festival and the relocation of an ageing underground pipeline also affected the schedule. Removing the old pipeline around five feet below the road surface has been one of the major challenges. We’re expediting the work and parking arrangements will be made nearby.”