THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A few days ago, the Town Planning Standing Committee of the city corporation issued notices to 21 commercial establishments and complexes under the ambit of the Traffic South region for parking violations where parking spaces were being used for other purposes. Complaints regarding the encroachment of footpaths and roads by street vendors had also been brought to the corporation’s notice.
To curb such practices, the Town Planning Committee has directed the engineering wing to take action against illegal street vendors who have taken over the footpaths in the city.
In a council meeting convened by the city corporation, the Town Planning Committee put forward a proposal to remove unauthorised street vendors.
Regular inspections have been conducted in different parts of the city and major violations were reported in places such as Ulloor, Fort, Pettah, Chalai and other areas.
In 2017 and 2018, the corporation had prepared a list of registered street vendors, followed by drives against footpath encroachments.
Certain makeshift structures were also removed as part of the drive but violations continue. “Recently we held a meeting with the health and engineering wing of the corporation chaired by Mayor K Sreekumar. There were complaints raised from the public regarding encroachments in places such as Poojapura,” said Palayam Rajan, chairperson, Town Planning Standing Committee.
It has also been brought to notice that footpaths on RKV road, the stretch between the Museum police station and Kanaka Nagar, have been occupied by street vendors.
To avoid this, the corporation under the Smart City Thiruvananthapuram Limited has come out with a project to set up special vending zones for street vendors.
“On one side, RKV Road has been encroached by street vendors and the other side is congested with the haphazard parking of vehicles. The street vendors who have occupied the road will be rehabilitated and vending zones will be set up at an estimated cost of Rs 2.7 crore,” said Rajan.
Enforcement from February
“We have already started conducting inspections to check for unauthorised encroachment of footpaths by street vendors. We plan to enforce the law by the second week of February,” said Rajan.
An Adalat will be held on January 30 which will be led by the Town Planning wing and will be attended by Mayor K Sreekumar, engineering wing, traffic advisory committee and other corporation officials.