CHENNAI: Shopkeepers in Chennai’s electronics market, popularly known as the ‘Richie Street’ have woken up to a host of civic and other problems chocking the smooth running of their day-to-day business.
Uppermost in their list of demands is the eviction of unauthorised hawkers from their area, adjacent to Anna Salai near Anna Statue. The electronic market consists of nine streets, and ‘Richied Street’ is the well known name for electronic items and components. It attracts about 10,000 visitors every day, from all over Tamil Nadu and other neighbouring states.
The members of the All India Radio and Electronics Association (South Zone) have demanded that besides the complete eviction of hawkers, they wanted certain civic problems, mainly garbage cleaning, to be attended to immediately.
The Association president Mahaveer Bhandari told reporters on Monday that the hawkers had almost occupied every inch of the roadside areas and absence of any proper traffic management along with random parking of vehicles had severely affected their business.
According to him, the presence of hawkers had caused 60 per cent loss in business of the shopkeepers as customers were reluctant to walk on the the narrow streets. For the last four to five years, the customers had been complaining of harassment by the hawkers as they were not allowed to visit the shops of their choice, he said.
A member of the association said that the hawkers in Anna Salai had squatted right on the road blocking the movement of customers and vehicles. They were unauthorised and could not be compared to the hawkers in T Nagar or other areas, he added.He also complained that the food stalls dumped garbage on the streets resulting in choking of the drain and unsanitary conditions around.The average turn over in the market is estimated to be about Rs12, 200 crore. If proper facilities are available, the traders believe that the business will double in the next three years.
They also informed that the narrow street had caused the death of a fellow trader as the ambulance could not enter the street in time.
The traders also wanted adequate parking provisions with clear markings on the road and the parking system should be followed by the public through proper monitoring at regular intervals. They also asked for 50 dust bins and the removal of the garbage regularly.