Vendors at Periyar stand told to vacate

Madurai: The Madurai bench of the Madras high court has directed vendors functioning inside the commercial complex at the Periyar bus stand to vacate by December 31 and also give an undertaking in the regard.
The vendors were issued eviction orders by the the Madurai corporation for renovation as part of the Madurai smart city project.
The division bench of Justice K K Sasidharan and Justice P D Audikesavalu directed the vendors in the commercial complex to vacate the premises, on Tuesday.
The bench has also directed the corporation authorities to submit the names of vendors currently operating inside the complex.
The bench was hearing petitions by vendor associations who were against the eviction notice. The court had earlier extended the interim stay on eviction order till December 11.
Petitioner R V Rajaram, president of one of the merchants’ association, had said that the corporation issued the eviction order on October 22 without any prior notice to the association or its members.
“In the order, the corporation stated to the effect that officials had consulted our association. But they neither had consulted nor issued a notice. For reasons best known to the corporation, they have made false statements in the order,” the petitioner stated.
The petition stated that the livelihood of 10,000 people was dependent on these shops and sought for the re-development to be carried out in two phases.
“The corporation ought not to carry out re-development of Periyar bus stand and nearby complex bus stand work under a single phase thereby evicting shops in both bus stands.
Instead, the same can be done in two phases, as shops at one bus stand maybe shifted to other bus stand until one phase gets over,” the petitioner stated, and noted that the eviction would affect the right to life of the members of the association.
The petitioners also pointed out that they would extend full cooperation to the corporation for the development of the Periyar bus stand, but they have not been kept in the loop about new allotments and this has made them apprehensive.