CHENNAI: The Chennai City Corporation’s plan to streamline hawking on the Marina with the help of custom-made kiosks seems to have hit a dead-end as 200 of these stalls have now been moved to the Mylapore burial ground from a local playground following complaints of space crunch by the residents.
The stalls were stored at Alphonsa Ground after hawkers rejected them citing small space and faulty design. The corporation procured 900 smart carts at a cost of Rs 16.4 crore based on a Madras High Court order after inviting applications from vendors in December 2020. The HC passed the direction in a suo motu case pertaining to the beautification and maintenance of Marina Beach. Of the 900 carts, 540 were meant for existing vendors and 360 for new vendors.
Parthiban (name changed), a resident of Mylapore, who visited the burial ground last week, said, “The kiosks are kept here to hide them from people’s eyes. A burial ground cannot be used as a temporary warehouse.”
When TNIE contacted councillor A Revathi of ward 125, she said there was no other place available to store the kiosks after they were shifted from Alphonsa Ground. “We don’t have any other place in Mylapore to store them. They are kept in an empty spot on the burial ground without disturbing visitors. This is a temporary arrangement,” she said.
‘Kiosk could not even store Rs 2K worth of goods’
Sekar P, a beach vendor, said the kiosk was not enough to store even Rs 2,000 worth of goods at a time. “It’s too small. Not even one person can stand inside the kiosk for over two hours without feeling extremely uncomfortable.
Authorities are blaming us now for not using the kiosks, but nobody saw it fit to take our inputs while designing them,” he said. The kiosks are now lying unused in various places, including the beach and the Mylapore burial ground.
A senior corporation official told TNIE that a case filed by some hawkers in 2020 against the corporation’s vendor identification process came up for hearing in the Madras High Court last week. “We are waiting for the judgment in the case and based on the court ruling we will initiate action,” he said.