CHENNAI: The Madras High Court, on Wednesday, agreed to an interim arrangement proposed by the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) to regulate the fish stalls obstructing the Marina Loop Road and the pavements and ensure the free flow of traffic without any inconvenience to the road users.
When the suo motu case on eviction of encroachments made on the Loop Road came up before the bench of Justices SS Sundar and PB Balaji, Additional Advocate General (AAG) J Ravindran filed a status report on behalf of the GCC commissioner.
He said in order to ensure the free flow of traffic, the GCC undertakes to initiate necessary action to create two parking bays behind the Lighthouse and near Srinivasapuram. The police would ensure customers of the fish stalls park their vehicles on the said bays, he added.
By taking the fishermen into confidence, action will be taken to push the fish stalls farther into the western side so that the general public would not be put to inconvenience and free flow of vehicles and will work on paving the area with interlocking blocks within a fortnight’s time.
“As an interim arrangement, the fishermen on the western side might use the platform without affecting traffic. The GCC and the police will coordinate on the location of fish stalls and regulate traffic,” Ravindran submitted.
Though agreeing with the interim arrangement, the bench sticks to the earlier order of mandating the GCC to remove the encroachments on the public road. The judges said they have seen several interviews given by the fishermen. They are asserting their rights in a different manner. They will create problems if they are allowed to use the road as a matter of right.
“These people have started judging every judge. So it is not as it is. We have actually some concerns about the way we are portrayed. The rest of the people start believing us. So we show some indulgence but at the same time these people should know that there cannot be any encroachment,” they said, adding that some people wanted to keep it a sensitive issue and politicise for personal gains.
Quoting Supreme Court orders, the judges noted that though the public road is with the GCC, it is actually the property of the public and not the civic body. Everyone should be ensured to have free access and there cannot be any compromise on that.
Disturbance to turtle nesting
The judges expressed concern over the disturbance caused to nesting turtles due to the movement of heavy vehicles and tractors used for towing boats.
“There are so much of talks on turtle nesting. They use tractors and heavy vehicles for moving boats from the seashore. So, absolutely there is no question of making available land for the turtles to come and nest.
They (turtles) look for a convenient place for laying eggs. Due to the movement of vehicles without regulation, they know it is not a safe place to live in, lay eggs and keep them protected,” the judges said.
Giving two months time for the GCC for taking necessary action for regulating fish stalls and traffic, the judges posted the matter to June 19.