City Corporation proposes more regulations for Marina hawkers

In a stakeholders meeting held at Ripon Buildings on Saturday evening, Chennai Corporation Commissioner D Karthikeyan told hawkers that many vendors had erected permanent wooden structures with varied ceiling height. “All the shops should be at a uniform height and the civic body will impose a restriction on ceiling height,” he said.

The civic body, the police and Fisheries Department organised the meeting at the backdrop of a public interest litigation (PIL) in the Madras High Court and the subsequent beautification of the Marina beach.

Recently, the civic body and Police Department aligned more than 1,900 shops on the 2.8 km Marina beach that were functioning in a haphazard manner. 

Hawkers who were squatting near the tideline were removed and allocated shops near the service road. According to a 2017 survey by the civic body, there were only 1,424 shops. Promising the vendors that the civic body would protect the interest and livelihood of the vendors, Karthikeyan said that the civic body would try to allow all the shops to function and requested them to support the cause.

Karthikeyan also pointed out that many shops are using commercial LPG cylinders to cook on the beach. “This will affect the safety of the visitors. Vendors will be only allowed to sell already cooked food items and in some cases, small stoves may be allowed. Many vendors have many chairs in front of their shops and running their shops like restaurants. The Corporation will restrict this, too,” he warned.

Meanwhile, the representatives of vendors’ associations demanded erection of poles to demarcate their shops so that they could maintain the Corporation-imposed alignment, for which the top officials promised they would consider.

Taking note on the congested alignment of shops near Anna Square, Karthikeyan said that shop owners should leave space in between every eight or ten shops. “Near Anna Square, the shops were erected using plywood like permanent structures. This poses danger to the visitors,” he added.

When asked about their business after the alignment, a vendor said, “Earlier, the vendors near the tideline had better business than their counterparts near the service road, as the visitors prefer to eat near the water. Now, after the alignment, all shops are witnessing shared business.”

After regulating the Shops on Marina beach, the Corporation will regulate the shops on Elliot’s Beach next. “We are carrying out the beautification of Marina under Swadesh Darshan Scheme announced by the Central government apart from regulating the shops. Similar infrastructure development, like sea view seatings, are being carried out at the Elliot’s Beach,” a higher official said. The official added that once the regulation of shops on Marina is completed, the civic body would enumerate the number of shops on the sands and regulate them at Elliot’s beach. It is also learnt that the civic body is mulling to enumerate the shops on Marina and Elliot’s based on family cards so that they could ensure only one shop for a family. “On Marina alone, there might be nearly 2,500 shops as against the Corporation count of 1,900 shops. Family card-based enumeration will cut the number of shops,” a vendor confided. Under Swadesh Darshan Scheme, three first-aid kiosks would come on Marina beach.

In a makeshift arrangement to evict the fish vendors on Loop Road, the Greater Chennai Corporation has proposed to build a temporary market before constructing the permanent space.

The temporary market would be built using zinc sheets on the 2-acre land earmarked for the swanky fish market for the Loop Road vendors at a cost of Rs 57 lakh. The market would house nearly 300 shops. “A tender has been floated for this and the works will commence before March,” a Corporation official said.

The official added that the permanent structure would take 18 to 24 months to complete and then vendors would be shifted to the permanent market. The fish market would come on the western side of the Loop Road.

However, the fish vendors’ associations, who had participated in the stakeholders meeting on Saturday demanded that the shops should be built on the seaward side along the road. But, the fisheries director G S Sameeran pointed out the CRZ regulations and said that the department had already sent a proposal to CRZ, but it was rejected.

“The Corporation should allow fish vending on platforms of the road for 300 metres,” a vendor demanded. Promising the vendors of considering the demand, Chennai Police Commissioner A K Viswanathan requested that the fishermen should ensure the safety of the public.