MADURAI: Hundreds of street vendors who depend on the festival season to earn a significant share of their annual income have been left struggling after being evicted from the roads surrounding the Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple as part of measures to regulate traffic and pedestrian movement ahead of the temple’s Maha Kumbabishekam.
The Chithirai streets, which would usually remain bustling with hundreds of vendors selling toys, clothes, accessories and other items, have remained largely vacant for the past two weeks. The Madurai corporation cleared the vending shops from the streets on August 31 ahead of the consecration ceremony.
Speaking to TNIE, K Abbas, president of the Chithirai Streets Vendors Association, said more than 300 vendors, particularly women, have been left without work for the past two weeks.
“Officials told us that the eviction was temporary, but we have not received any information on when we can return or whether alternative spaces will be provided. Though the kumbabishekam is scheduled only for September 17, we were asked to remove our shops by August 31,” he said.
According to Abbas, several male vendors have shifted to daily-wage jobs to make ends meet, while many women vendors have been left without employment. “They initially said the shops were being removed as they were causing inconvenience. Now, the venue has reportedly been changed to a parking area. If vehicles are allowed there, will it not affect the movement of people during the festival?” Abbas asked.
Another vendor, requesting anonymity, said the eviction had come at a time when they normally earn their highest daily income. “During the festival season, we usually earn between `1,000 and `2,000 a day. Now, we are forced to depend on daily-wage work, which fetches less than `500.
Even loading and unloading work is difficult to find during the festival season. We are left with almost no income,” the vendor said. S Senthamarai Kannan, general secretary of the Madurai district Street Vendors Association of CITU, said the corporation should have identified alternative spaces before evicting the vendors.
Meanwhile, a corporation official said a series of measures, including cleaning and maintenance works, were being undertaken around the temple. The official said the shifting of vendors was only a temporary measure. However, officials declined to clarify whether the vendors would be allowed to return and operate their shops at the venue after the consecration ceremony, stating that a decision would be taken later.
