Sellers of Palayamkottai flower bazaar submitted a petition on Monday urging the Collector M. Karunakaran not to remove their decades-old shops near Jawahar Grounds in Palayamkottai.
They said they were selling flowers from the market situated west of Jawahar Grounds since 1947. When the drive to remove illegal constructions around Palayamkottai Gandhi Market was initiated by then Sub-Collector Gurnihal Singh Pirzada in 1984, the flower vendors explained to him the need for a flower bazaar in Palayamkottai and asked him not to remove their shops, which were feeding over 500 persons.
While allowing the flower vendors to continue their business in the same place on compassionate grounds, he made it clear that each shop should not exceed the size of 24 feet into six feet at the same place after paying the fine until an alternative spot was allotted to them as a permanent arrangement. He banned any permanent construction at the spot.
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“As per this arrangement, we’re paying the fine even now as fixed by the officials. When fire destroyed the shops on July 8 last year, we’ve rebuilt our shops with fire-proof tin sheets but haven’t made any permanent construction there. Hence, the Collector, on compassionate grounds, should allow us to continue our business from the same place,” the traders said.