More than 50 women from Kodaikanal and Perumal Malai and women from Paraipatti in Idayakottai Panchayat thronged the collectorate here on Monday demanding the removal of three TASMAC shops functioning near schools and bus stands.
Members of a women’s voluntary organisation and women from Perumal Malai and nearby villages said three TASMAC shops were functioning at busy Moonjikkal Road junction, in front of Kodaikanal old bus stand, and at Perumal Malai bus stop.
All tourists had to pass through Moonjikkal junction and passengers and students used to board buses at this stand only. Drunkards occupied the bus stop and ‘converted’ it into a bar.
Empty liquor bottles, water tumblers and empty plastic sachets were littered at the bus shelter. Persons in an inebriated mood were lying at the bus stop causing inconvenience to passengers, said R. Munishwari.
Students, office-goers and women workers had been facing untold miseries owing to the presence of the TASMAC shop near Perumal Malai bus stop.
“We had given seven petitions to the Collector so far for closure of these three shops. When we gave a petition in June 2016, the Collector assured that these shops would be included in the closure list of next 500 TASMAC shops. But they were not in the list.”
When contacted, TASMAC officials, who refused to close the shop in Perumal Malai, stated that it was the second highest revenue making shop in the district. The officials did not even prepare to shift the shop to a distant area, said K. Maheshwari, another resident of Perumal Malai.
The police allowed only five representatives of each group to hand over a petition.
