Shocking! 3K illegal traders caught in 7 days

CHENNAI: We’ve heard philosophers, spiritual guides and many life coaches say that the journey is more important than the destination. But little did the revenue officials of the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) know that this piece of knowledge would hold true for them. A recent drive by the civic body, to inspect the implementation of the plastic ban, turned into an unexpected exercise of spotting as many as 2,907 shops operating sans licence on the Bus Route Roads (BRR).

“We recently began a drive on major bus routes to ensure there was proper garbage collection and adherence to plastic ban. However, when we started visiting the shops we came across something alarming — most of the shops we went to, had no licence. Some even claimed that they didn’t know they had to procure one,” said the revenue official. The commercial establishments operating without licence ranged from meat stalls, eateries, bakeries to fancy stores, provisional shops and supermarkets.

Caught unaware
According to data sourced from the Corporation officials, 630 unlicensed shops were identified in the Thiru-Vi-Ka Nagar zone that comprises Purasawakkam, Perambur, Pulianthope, Kilapuk and Kolathur. This was followed by places such as T Nagar, Thousand Lights, Triplicane, Royapettah, Choolaimedu and Mylapore falling in the Teynampet zone with 440 unlicensed shops. More than 200 shops were identified each in Adyar, Perungudi and Sholinganallur zones. There were more than 100 unlicensed commercial establishments each in Madhavaram, Tondiarpet, Anna Nagar, Kodambakkam, Valasaravakkam and Alandur zones.All the identified shops have beengiven 15 days to apply for trade licence, failing which they will be sealed. Trade licences are issued to businesses and traders under the Chennai City Municipal Corporation Act, 1919. According to official data, there are only 63,560 commercial establishments in the state. The actual number is suspected to be over a lakh.

Not an easy process

“Though we insist that everyone procures a licence, it is a tedious process as there are numerous conditions that the civic body has put forth. Most of the times, a shopkeeper is a tenant, which means he pays rent for occupying the place. The revenue officials demand a no objection certificate (NOC) from the owner of the building, which is very difficult to get as the owners refuse,” said T Vellaiyan, leader of Tamil Nadu Vanigar Sangangalin Peravai (Traders Association). He recommended that after a trader applies for licence, officials must inspect the shop and then issue the licence.

“Though the civic body claims that licence can be procured within two to three days, it seldom works that way. The revenue officials make us run from pillar to post, eventually forcing us to give up. Most of us are here sans licences because of this reason. The renewal process is also not easy,” said Senthil Raghavan, who runs a provision store at T Nagar.

Responding to this, the concerned revenue official said the civic body asks for a NOC from the owner only once — while applying for licence. The renewal process does not require it. “Also, we are drafting a policy to make procuring of licence easier,” said the official.

Following the act
Trade licences are issued to businesses and traders under the Chennai City Municipal Corporation Act, 1919. According to official data, there are only 63,560 commercial establishments in the state. The actual number is suspected to be over a lakh.