CHENNAI: A group of 97 Dalit fruit traders claim they have been denied space in Chennai’s biggest wholesale market at Koyambedu even 17 years after allotment of shops to them.
An order of the Madras High Court this April was in their favour. It asked the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA), the city’s planning body which also manages the market, to consider their petition seeking allotment, within four weeks and pass orders. But even after seven months, CMDA is yet to reply to the traders on whether they can be allowed to take possession of the shops allotted to them.
The court battle of the traders belonging to Dr Ambedkar Small Shops Traders Association began in 1999 when CMDA allotted shops on the pavements of the wholesale fruit market to them.
Soon members of other associations moved courts and filed multiple petitions seeking to quash the allotment claiming that these shops will obstruct light and air for their shops in the market. “I think the opposition is because we belong to the Dalit community. The case is being filed by one particular trader belonging to particular community and an official from CMDA is backing him,” alleges Veeraswamy, association president.
However, in July 2015, the vendors won a court battle seeking claim to shops in Koyambedu market. The High Court had observed that the vendors did not obstruct passage of light and air and did not block the entrance of regular shops.
But the allotment never came. In its recent order in April, a high court bench cited the court commissioner’s report which said: “there is no obstruction to the ingress and egress to the petitioners’ shops and also inflow and outflow of air and light to their shops is not affected.” The court observed that the problem of congestion is also due to encroachment of common spaces by other traders.
However, the court left if to CMDA to decide on the petition of these 97 traders on allotting the shops. “We got favourable orders from the courts and we will not take forcible possession of the shops,” says Veerasamy.
The traders say they now propose to file a case of contempt against CMDA.
When Express contacted CMDA officials, they refused to comment. However, it is learnt that this issue was discussed in a recent meeting of the authority.