Small traders hit as parking regulations at pedestrian plaza bring down business

Several vendors in the complex lamented that their business has completely come down due to the regulations. “When we were on the road, motorists would stop their vehicles to buy things from us. After the pedestrian plaza and regulations, parking has become difficult as there is no sufficient parking space,” Arasu, a flower vendor in the commercial complex said.

The civic body, in order to evict the hawkers from Thiyagaraya Road and other roads in T Nagar, had constructed the commercial complex to house more than 600 shops a few years ago. Even when the vendors were asked to move to the new facility, they expressed concerns about losing their business and opposed the move in vain.

“Before we moved to the commercial complex, I was doing business for around Rs 6,000 per day. The business dropped to Rs 3,000 after they shifted us,” Arasu added. He attributed the reason for the drop in business to the pedestrian plaza and said the business would increase if the civic body allows two-way traffic on the road again.

“The pedestrian plaza is beautiful, but it affects vendors. Not only the vendors in the commercial complex are affected but also the regular shop owners too,” he pointed out. Meanwhile, a shop owner selling coffee powder on the road, on the condition of anonymity, said that several visitors come to the plaza only to enjoy the ambience rather than for shopping.

“We had requested the civic body to allow traffic from the Panagal Park side as residents from Kodambakkam, Mambalam, Ashok Nagar and other areas would come from that side. But the officials allowed the entry from the opposite side, which is mostly a commercial area,” he added. On the other hand, T Nagar residents pointed out that the civic body inaugurated the pedestrian plaza in a hurried manner without providing sufficient parking facility. VS Jayaraman of T Nagar Residents’ Welfare Association said that the road has become narrow now. “The civic body has provided wider footpaths. This would encourage hawkers to encroach them. The Corporation should keep the hawkers away. The facility is a great chance for families to spend the evenings. We have to see what the civic body would do in the long term,” he added.

While the civic body had provided parking space for shop ownersand regulated on-road parking between Panagal Park and Dr Nair Road, two-wheelers and cars are still encroaching the wide pedestrian pavement beyond Dr Nair Road. Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami inaugurated the pedestrian plaza on November 14, which was built at a cost of around Rs 40 crore under Smart City Mission.