Industrial units that have been causing nuisance to residents are being pushed harder to shift to industrial areas in the city.
Chennai Corporation’s revenue department on Saturday sealed yet another unit in Kasturbai Nagar that was bothering residents. The welding shop in Venkatratna Nagar was locked and sealed following protests by residents, a Corporation official said.
The civic body has recently intensified action against small-scale establishments as it received reports from residents about public nuisance caused by such industries in residential areas.
The 1913 helpline has seen a larger number of calls from residents, with many reporting problems caused by bottling units in their areas. Many messages are also being conveyed to local officials of the civic body.
At least 30 units, including units engaged in cleaning silver and other metals, chemical shops and welding shops, located in residential areas such as Adyar, Guindy, Tondiarpet, Korrukupet, Erukkancherry and Kodungaiyur have been shifted this year to industrial areas such as Guindy.
After some of the units were sealed by the civic body, most of the traders opted to shift the units to industrial zones, officials said.
The revenue department had issued notices to units under the provisions of section 379(A) of the Chennai City Municipal Corporation Act.
The traders in such areas are also found to use the premises without valid licences from the Corporation commissioner as mandated by sections 287 and 288 of the Chennai City Municipal Corporation Act IV of 1919.
Most of these traders fail to comply with a notice within the stipulated 24-hour period following which the civic body locked and sealed the premises. The civic body is empowered to take over the premises if traders fail to restore the affected areas to their original state.
Last year, the Corporation identified over 39,000 traders who were operating without trade licence in various localities across the city. The Corporation council passed a resolution to regulate such traders.
Following the initiative, zonal-level officials started to take stringent action against industrial units in residential areas.
In December last year, the civic body proposed a streamlined single window system for issuing trade licences.
A new system to give more teeth to the health department too was proposed to be put in place. Business units that are public health hazards or cause a nuisance to residents were also proposed to be regulated directly by the civic body’s health department under the new system.
