Tension prevailed on 45-foot road in front of the Vengata Nagar Children’s Park after Public Works Department (PWD) staff accompanied by police personnel launched a drive to remove the pushcart of a roadside food vendor on Wednesday.
The hawker, Mahendran, and his wife Girija of Jeeva Nagar protested against the drive and emptied the food items on to the road. A PWD official said the couple had encroached on the road disrupting the movement of traffic. Although the authorities had warned the two to shift the push cart from the road a few days ago, they continued to do business. The encroachment drive had been initiated for widening of the road, he said.
Meanwhile, veteran CPI(M) leader T. Murugan, who arrived there, got into a heated argument with PWD officials for removing the push cart. He said the couple were affected because of sudden action. How can the officials evict them without providing an alternative, he wondered. The couple have two school-going children to take care and asking them to suddenly wind up their business was not acceptable.
Earlier, the officials along with police personnel removed the push cart.
