Chennai Corporation on Saturday shifted all shops on the Marina beach to five zones, restricting around 2,500 vendors to five rows along the stretch from Triumph of Labour Statue to Light House. A few years ago, the shops were restricted to just one row near the Triumph of Labour Statue.
Following the drive on Saturday, visitors to the beach will have more space for recreation on the sands. Illegal shops have been proliferating on all the parts of the beach in the past few years.
With the number of vendors increasing to 2,500 from 1,489 in 2014, the civic body has banned new outlets on the other parts of the beach sands on the 3.1 km stretch. Chennai Corporation officials will remove any new outlets that crop up on the sands. The rows of shops have been formed along spots such as Kannagi Statue, Gandhi Statue and Triumph of Labour Statue where entry of vehicles to the beach from Kamarajar Salai is permitted. As a number of vendors protested against the drive to regulate outlets on the beach, police had to intervene before civic body officials resumed work.
The State government has so far been unwilling to regulate the shops based on the existing statutory provisions to rehabilitate street vendors because of the resistance faced by Chennai Corporation.
A number of local residents alleged that Corporation’s own employees and councillors have set up shops, employing workers from other parts of the State.
