CHENNAI: A day after City Express reported about Adyar Juice World, a shop outside Gokul Arcade, which was built around an EB box, and its licence renewal on April 4, the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) officials partially demolished the shop and locked it on Friday. “Orders have been given to the store officials to keep it closed. The EB box will stay in its place,” said a senior Corporation official.
The owners had encroached the area, built a shop around the EB box a decade ago and placed a gas cylinder right beside it, posing the threat of an explosion. The shop was frequented by hundreds daily.
Moreover, the juice shop had encroached the parking space of Gokul Arcade. Cars were often parked on the roadside, blocking the already narrow road. Adding to the traffic woes, during peak hours, the two-wheelers parked under the bridge opposite the arcade and four-wheelers parked outside the arcade caused traffic snarls.
“The constant follow-up by the residents of Adyar and the report by CE highlighting the risks of having a cylinder near the junction box has finally seen the light at the other end of the tunnel. We appreciate the efforts taken by the local Corporation officials. Similar illegal licences have been procured by many establishments in Adyar, which also need to be revoked. We seek the support of the Corporation in helping the residents in this regard,” said C Ramakrishnan, vice president, Federation of Resident Associations of Adyar (FEDARA).
A passer-by, R Malavika, said that constant follow-up must be done to ensure that the same shop owner or another person does not begin the operations in the space again, a few months later. “Usually, shops resume operations after six months and once again we run behind the officials. GCC must not let this happen.”
A notice posted outside the shop by revenue officials reads, “Since the shop is blatantly violating the norms of the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board and is posing a threat to the lives of public apart from encroaching the space of pedestrians, seven days have been given to the shop owners to justify their act. The shop will remain closed till then.” The store owner or the workers were unavailable for a comment.