CHENNAI: Slamming the Chennai Corporation for the slackness in relocating hawkers along NSC Bose Road, the Madras High Court has directed the civic body to earmark hawkers’ zone by June 14.
The first bench of Chief Justice SV Gangapurwala and Justice J Sathya Narayana Prasad, while hearing a 2018 petition filed by V Tamizhanban, noted that the corporation has constituted vending committees but has not earmarked hawking zones so far.
“The licenses (for hawkers) are given by the corporation. However, unless the hawking zones are earmarked, they cannot be shifted to such zones. The corporation is very slow in earmarking the zone,” the bench said in an interim order passed on Monday.
It pointed out that it is imperative for the corporation to expeditiously earmark hawking zones so that licensed vendors can be relocated to the zones and solve the issue of vendors squatting on the service road.
The court also made it clear that the corporation can take action against vendors illegally putting up stalls and wanted the civic body to regularly monitor them.
The bench adjourned the matter to June 19 and told the corporation to earmark hawking zones by June 14.
Tamizhanban filed the petition in 2018 seeking orders to the corporation and the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board to make NSC Bose Road free of encroachments and defecation, proper laying of pavements and covering of manholes.
During the hearing on Monday, the corporation submitted that anti-encroachment drive was held for three days and the drive cannot continue due to the ongoing elections.
In a previous hearing, the corporation informed the court that alternative sites were provided to 120 vendors but they were unwilling to relocate.