CHENNAI: Encroachment of pavements on the 4.5 kilometre Ambattur Estate road has forced pedestrians to walk on the busy road, risking their lives.
Over 150 local street vendors continue to occupy the pavement, where they sell fruits and vegetables. A section of residents rue that encroachments are so massive in the evening that they cause pedestrians to walk on the road.
“Where will pedestrians walk if the pavements are encroached by vendors,” asked Dhamodharan R, 45, a resident of Tirumangalam.
The street vendors are in no mood to relent. “Although the encroachments are comparatively less in the morning, it still causes more inconvenience to the early morning walkers,” he said.
Thangam Ramesh of Arasu hardwares, a resident and shop vendor near Thirumangalam, said that she had turned down many requests from the pavement vendors to occupy the space adjacent to her shop. “This place is for the pedestrians to walk, not to get occupied by vendors”, she said. She added that the street vendors have increased considerably in the past few months.
Data from the corporation’s street vending committee states that Ambattur zone only has four street vendors registered with the corporation. This may be grossly underreported as there are at least 150 vendors on this 4.5 km stretch alone. S Rajeswari, Zonal Officer, Ambattur zone, under which this stretch comes, said there was no statistical data on street vendors encroaching on the pavements on the 4.5 km stretch.
