Hawkers' livelihood hit by incessant rain

Only a few roadside hawkers opened shops on Monday. A scene in Kodambakkam. Photo: K. Pichumani

December is a month that K. Neelamegam has always looked forward to. His 20-year-old business usually hits the peak during the monsoon. But this year, he fervently hopes that the sky clears up at least during the day for him to make some money for survival.

“I usually park my pushcart beside a textile shop in T.Nagar. Despite covering it with a tarpaulin sheet, I found my wares completely soaked in water this morning,” said the peanut seller, as he mends the leaky roof of his cart.

For scores of hawkers and platform vendors like him, two days of incessant downpour meant temporarily losing out on their livelihood. In areas such as Pondy Bazaar and Koyambedu, pushcarts protected by tarpaulin sheets were lined up and the shops on platforms that were briefly opened during the afternoon had to be shut as the winds turned gusty in the evening.

R.Yasodha, a flower vendor in the area, was one among the few who braved the rains. “There is no point shutting the shops as I cannot save the flowers for more than a day. Though the business was not even one-fourth of what I manage during normal days, it matters a lot as we would otherwise go penniless,” she says.

But it was not just the drop in sales that troubled platform vendors. Second-hand book sellers such as Balabharani who were caught off guard as the rains and winds strengthened last evening now face sufferingvfrom a loss of livelihood. The downpour and winds that soaked the city on Monday also damaged nearly 50 of his books. “The worst part is all are hard-bound and expensive. The plastic sheet that was already leaky was pulled off because of the winds. I have lost books worth nearly Rs.500,” says the bookseller, near the Chief Postmaster General office on Anna Salai.

“Vendors worst hit”

“While the business was usual at big retail shops, it was these platform vendors who suffered. It would have been better if they had got allotment in the hawkers' complex in Pondy Bazaar before the rain. They would at least have had a shelter,” said T.Sarathy, Secretary T.Nagar Traders Association.