"Notifying hawker's zone is bounden duty of Corporation", says MHC

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court (MHC) opined that notifying the hawker's zone is a bounden duty of Chennai Corporation and directed the State to regulate street vendors in a better way.

Petitioner Aja Mohamed moved the MHC to direct the Chennai Corporation to take necessary steps to remove the encroachment made on the public road near Mount -Poonamallee road at Porur.

The case was listed before the first division bench comprising Chief Justice SV Gangapurwala and Justice D Bharatha Chakravrthy.

The counsel for the petitioner contended that the hawkers and the street vendors are occupying the pathway and the roads near Porur Lake Shiva temple, making it difficult for the commuters. The commuters were not in a position to use the road and sought to direct the State and Corporation to evict the street vendors from the pathway.

The government pleader P Muthukumar appeared for the Corporation submitted that the hawkers' zone has not yet been notified.

After the submission, the bench observed that It is the bounden duty of the Corporation to notify the hawkers' zone.

Further, the bench directed the Corporation to regulate the hawkers/street vendors in a better way to ensure that the general public and the commuters are not put at inconvenience and disposed of the petition.