New pavement on NSC Bose Road goes to hawkers

Chennai: Pedestrians, particularly senior citizens, were pleased when Greater Chennai Corporation laid brand new pavements on busy NSC Bose Road in Broadway. But now that the civic body has completed work on one side of the road, hawkers and commercial establishments have encroached upon the newly-laid, wide pavement, forcing pedestrians on to the middle of the road.
Stiff opposition from the hawkers has stalled work on the pavement on the other side of the road, near the Broadway bus terminus. Corporation officials said the hawkers were threatening officials and workers and this was delaying the project,
"We were happy when they widened pavement on one side of the road but now there is no trace of the footpath as it has been taken over by hawkers and commercial establishments for parking," said K Venugopal, 66, who regularly passes the stretch. "Road width has shrunk after the corporation widened the pavement but we are forced to walk on the road. The corporation has not taken any action against encroachers."
The Madras high court had in October 2015 asked the civic body to evict hawkers from the road in accordance with a Supreme Court order. Social activist K R 'Traffic' Ramaswamy, fighting against encroachments on NSC Bose Road, said the corporation should clear encroachments according to the court order.
The vendors say they depend on hawking their wares for their livelihood.
"It's unfair to shift us from here as several families are dependent on hawking. But nobody is taking any action against the commercial establishments who are using the pavement for parking," said K Kamalamma, who sells flowers on the stretch.
The corporation is yet to constitute a Town Vending Committee (TVC) to regulate vendors despite the Supreme Court passing an order to this effect in September 2013. Civic bodies in cities like Hyderabad, Mumbai and Pune have already constituted TVCs to demarcate hawking spaces and prevent encroachments.
Corporation officials said they were unable to clear encroachments from NSC Bose Road mainly because of political pressure.