Unable to bear the ire of his fellow villagers and other tenants, the owner of a building that housed a Tasmac outlet at Theatremedu near Sirumugai on Mettupalayam - Sathyamangalam main road chose to build a wall overnight in front of the outlet.
The outlet is the first of the nearly 30 shops at the complex owned by K. Subbaiyan (70), a farmer.
He said that he rented the shop to the Tasmac several years ago. “Earlier, I also rented a bar with the outlet but closed it down four years ago,” he said. Alcoholics are now using the road and are disturbing the public after the bar was closed. Other shops in the complex also suffered a big blow. The villagers have also staged a couple of mass demonstrations seeking relocation of the shop.
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Over the last three years, he has repeatedly petitioned the Collector and the authorities concerned to relocate the shop from his place, but in vain. Subbaiyan wondered why the outlet was not removed from the State Highway, despite a court direction that all Tasmac outlets on the State and National highways should be removed.
About construction of the wall, he said that it was well planned as he had materials ready. The wall of hollow blocks was built in about two hours around midnight, on Thursday, giving a full day for it to get set as the outlet would remain closed on Thursday on account of Mahavir Jayanthi.
“The wall is built in such a way that business is hindered and the authorities concerned are forced to relocate the shop without delay,” says V. Swaminathan (38), a councillor in Sirumugai Town Panchayat and Karamadai Union president of Bharatiya Janata Party, who has been fighting for closure of the shop.
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A senior police officer said that they received a petition from a top Tasmac official to provide necessary help to remove the wall. The police were closely monitoring the situation and a decision was yet to be taken on whether to remove the wall or not.