Shops on Marina beach: GCC issues notice to 300 owners

CHENNAI: After over a year, the Chennai Corporation has come forward to implement the smart shops project and has issued notice to 300 shop owners on the Marina Beach.

A notice has been sent to the owners to vacate 300 shops that were set up without permission on the Marina beach.

Last year, the Corporation took efforts to implement the project of setting up smart shops, which was criticised by shop owners.

A Corporation official said:-

“In 2020, the Chennai Corporation decided to allot 900 smart shops worth Rs 16.5 crore to vendors on the Marina Beach following the Chennai High Court order.”

“However, shopkeepers staged protest against this. If this continues, we will hand over the shops to others,” he added.

The Corporation had earlier informed the Madras High Court that only 900 shops would be permitted on the beach for which Rs 3,000 a year would be collected as licence fee per vendor.

Resistance from the vendors:

Following the move by the GCC, vendors have been served with notices asking for an explanation. Shop owners demanded that the civic body should prioritise existing vendors and provide shops to everyone.

There are 1,459 authorised shops on the Marina. But, now it is said that only 900 people are allotted shops.

Only 60 per cent of this is to be allocated to existing traders. The rest of the shops are expected to be allotted to newcomers.