Hawker stalls on Marina now have to operate in given space on sands

There is to be some order in the food and games hawker stalls on the Marina. But this is not the first time the regulation is being attempted.

On Saturday, Chennai Corporation commissioner and city police commissioner and their officials visited the Marina off the Light House zone and surveyed the new order that the civic body has put in place.

All hawkers will be set in two rows parallel to the service road of the beach over and the majority of the sands will be off-limits for them.

Hawkers have also been registered and given ID cards and only they can run their trades. A local Hawking Committee has also been put in place to manage the operations here, as is done elsewhere.

Over the recent years, there has been a proliferation of stalls and not all do business. Many are set in places like the shoreline where the haekers feel people will buy foodstuff.

But this had led to a mess with lots of waste left on the sands, both by hawkers and visitors.

There is also cartelisati0n that takes place with some groups holding control on a number of stalls.

The Light House – Gandhi statue zone of the Marina sees a big surge in beach visitors in the mornings and in the evenings.