Civic body clears hawkers around temple zones

A swift and surprise ‘clear the encroachers’ operation was carried out on Venkateswara Agraharam and South Mada Streets of Mylapore on the weekend by Chennai Corporation.

Its workers, with the aid of machines and equipment cleaned up roadside hawking stuff left behind by hawkers who use the space to run their busin ess.

Only those who sit on pavements escaped the clean up.

Hawkers on South Mada Street, alongside the temple who sell vegetables and create the space for a thriving market on this busy street were surprised with the drive and quickly gathered the veggies and boxes before the machines ran over the rest and junked it.

Such campaigns as in the past have not solved the civic problem at all. Only, permanent stalls have not come up on South Mada Street. But near Saibaba Temple, hawkers have multiplied and many have reserved spaces on roadside.

South Mada Street’s hawking zone does give the area its own brand of shopping space for the community but often, hawkers take away most part of the street and are the cause of chaos and garbage spread.