Corporation close to ending hawker count, illegal vendors under lens

CHENNAI: The city corporation has completed enumeration of hawkers on Elliot’s and Marina beaches and in 12 of 15 zones, a key step before forming a Town Vending Committee (TVC) to prevent the illegal practice. The survey has so far listed 800-odd vendors on both beaches and roughly 19,000 street vendors with the highest, expectedly, in T Nagar.
The counting which began on March 8 in the Tondiarpet zone will end in the next fortnight, after enumeration in Anna Nagar, Thiru-vi-ka Nagar and Royapuram, senior revenue officials said.“In one day, we coverg two divisions and compared to other zones, hawkers are fewer here,” an official said. Unlike other cities Chennai will have a TVC in each of the 15 zones.
Seperately, vendors’ associations have complained to the corporation that some hawkers were trying to include in the list their family members who aren’t hawkers. A private agency appointed by corporation is collating details and photos of hawkers on every street. “Close to 1,000 people have submitted their details on NSC Bose Road where there cannot be more than 300 vendors at any given time,” said P Karunanidhi, general secretary of the Chennai Street Vendors Association. “From what we have found there doesn’t seem to be any political influence but many vendors are exploiting the survey which could affect genuine vendors. Some of them are under a false illusion that if they participate in this survey, they will be given shops.”
The civic body is also cracking down on this duplication. “A lot of people who give their details for the survey do not turn up for biometrics, where they are required to submit IDs and photos. We are ensuring that those are not verifiable are removed from the list,” an official said. The fully formed TVC will be the sole authority to issue licences, demarcate hawking spaces and settle disputes.