Chennai corporation mall vacant; vendors back to pavement

Chennai: At least two-thirds of the four-storey shopping complex built to accommodate the displaced hawkers of Pedestrian Plaza in Pondy Bazaar in T Nagar are lying vacant, while other occupants have unpaid rental arrears running to several lakhs of rupees.There are about 600 shops in the complex, of which only about 200 stalls in the first two floors are occupied. However, on paper, all the 600 are allotted to the displaced vendors. It is a double whammy as the allotted shops lie idle without rents being paid, and the original displaced encroachers have returned to the pedestrian plaza blocking access to shops.A 30-sqft shop entails a monthly rent of 3,000. But unpaid rental dues run to several crores. The first two floors have stalls selling low-cost merchandise, accessories, and decoration items. The third floor is filled with debris, garbage, and dust, with all stalls closed. The fourth floor too is closed and has abandoned scrap material.The vendors were relocated from Theagaraya Road to make way for the Pedestrian Plaza and were moved into this building in 2017. T Nagar MLA J Karunanidhi said vendors complained of a lack of business in the market and are encroaching on Usman Road, Ranganathan Street, and other business areas of T Nagar."Each shop has dues worth lakhs. I requested the commissioner to recover the dues. Most vendors are encroaching near the new CIT-Nagar flyover and Usman Road flyover, despite stalls being allotted to them. Before the flyover gets operational by June, we will remove the vendors and bring them back to the complex," he said .The vendors said they get a revenue of barely 5,000 a month or less. The stalls too are not appealing as almost every other shop in the 300-metre-long Pedestrian Plaza stretch sells premium items from household products, electronics, cosmetics and merchandise, including options for food and coffee. S Babjee, an urban planner working for CMDA and GCC, said a shopping complex must offer diverse options for shoppers from food, premium merchandise, groceries, and even gold stores."The shopping complex does not have lifts, toilets, parking, and offers no diversity too. It requires a complete overhaul," he said.Deputy mayor Mahesh Kumar, however, said the complex was meant for small-scale vendors, and only minimal changes could be brought in.