Corpn evicts 75 hawkers from Dr Nanjappa Road

Coimbatore: Nine months after the highways department evicted street hawkers from Gandhipuram, it was the city corporation’s turn to do so on Thursday. Officials from the corporation’s central zone removed 75 street hawkers, who had put up stalls on both sides of the road.
The civic body officials descended on Dr Nanjappa Road led by west zone officials. They removed 25 hawkers from the town bus stand area and 50 from the opposite side of the road. The hawkers had occupied a sizeable portion of the road. The road on both sides was already narrow because of the flyover and the encroachments often lead to traffic bottlenecks.
While the corporation tries to evict the hawkers at least once a year, the highways department did so last September. “But within two months, almost all the hawkers returned” said K Balaji, manager of a south Indian restaurant on the stretch. “However, there were more than 100 shops last year. Their number seems to have slightly reduced this year. They often poach our customers,” he told TOI.
The hawkers blamed the corporation for not offering them an alternate location. Last year, the Madras high court had ordered that they be given an alternate location.
The civic body had suggested a space in Thudiyalur, but the hawkers refused, claiming that there was no visibility and floating population in the area. They were then given a location near the powerhouse in Tatabad, which the hawkers agreed to move to. But TANGEDCO objected to them setting up shops so close to the station.