Tension prevailed on the busy Bazaar Road in St. Thomas Mount on Monday morning, after a large police contingent stopped a team of health officials from the St. Thomas Mount and Pallavaram Cantonment Board from shutting down an unauthorised Tasmac outlet.
Monday’s attempt by Board officials was taken after numerous complaints by residents, who said the outlets had become dens, where anti-social elements gathered after sunset each day.
Around 11.30 a.m., a police team led by St. Thomas Mount police inspector (law & order), P. Dhanaselvam, stopped Board officials from entering the outlet and asked them to leave, saying their action would create a law and order problem. The police also told the officials they did not have the authority to shut the outlet.
“The Board is a local body. We asked the officials to get an order of closure from the district collector and then take action, as the outlet is run by the State government,” said Mr. Dhanaselvam.
Last November, the Cantonment Board wrote a letter to the Kancheepuram manager of Tasmac asking him not to supply liquor to the outlet, as the Board had not given it a ‘no objection’ certificate, thereby making it unauthorised.
Under section 277 of The Cantonments Act, 2006, all enterprises have to mandatorily obtain a license to operate within Cantonment limits.
Subsequently, a letter was sent by the Board’s chief executive officer to the joint commissioner of police, south zone, requesting the commissioner to provide board officials with police protection when they went to close the outlet.
However, as there was no response either from the Tasmac manager or from the police, the Board and its elected representatives passed a resolution at their monthly meeting in December, stating that all three unauthorised outlets within its limits — one in St. Thomas Mount and two in Pallavaram would be shut down.
“Several requests had been given to the authorities including the police to help us close these Tasmac outlets that pose a huge public nuisance, but there was no response,” said the Board’s CEO, Prasad Chavan.
As all three outlets are located on busy stretches, residents and other road users say they find it inconvenient to use these areas as several drunken men loiter about.
“Woman and schoolchildren especially, are the most affected in these areas. Efforts of the local body to close such outlets should be supported by State agencies,” said V.P. Bhopalan, a councillor in the Board.
