By Martin, Sub-Editor, 17th august, 2016
Ø Commuters facing problems during rush
hours.
Nearly
1, 00,000 lakh commuters who cross between the F.O.B between Chennai central
and park station are facing problems on daily basis as they find it difficult
to find space for walking over the bridge,
especially during the rush hours, due to the occupation of the maximum space by
the daily wage vendors who are selling their goods over and across both sides
of station.
The foot over bridge
had turned into a flourishing market as more and more shops are adding to this
busy market.
Started from the sale
of electronic products , today from vegetables, fruits, juice shop, clothes,
bidi, panparag, watches, books, toys to sometimes even shoes, wallets etc. are being
sold in this area.
Daily
wage vendors selling varieties of goods over and across the foot over bridge.
This temporary Bridge
which was built as a solution for the closure of subway, as metro rail project
has been undergoing in this area was already in high criticism due to its steep
structure and its weak built, is again in controversy due to overloading of the
bridge and also at the same time causing problems to the commuters in their
crossing.
When asked to the traffic
policemen Manikadan about this issue, he said, "All these daily wage
vendors are the persons who were dislocated from their usual place of business
due to closure of the subway that connects the two stations after the start of
metro project in the region. This is the reason why the Corporation is going
soft on this issue as it is the matter of their livelihood."
Similarly, when we
got to know story from the other
side.Kanama ,an electronic products seller who doesn't want to be named said,
"these policemen don't have a job to do, they just want to troll us, we
all vendors belong to adidravida and vanniyar community, any decision against
removal of our shops will only create disturbances in the area".
From sources, it is
known that Corporation of Chennai has clearly stated and allowed only shops to
be opened across the bridge, not over
the bridge and that also under the stipulated no. of 10-12 on both side.
Also, Prabhu, a juice
seller said," there has been high competition in this business also
nowadays. According to him, there are two groups in formation one is the north
Indian group and other is the south Indian group. Both are bribing these
policemen for removal of each other’s shops on day to day basis, which only
affects their own businesses, as they feel threatened by outsiders dominating their
area of business."
Yet, the tussle
between the vendors, policemen, corporation officials is ongoing with no action
probably taken by the administration, using the caste as a reason to avoid
questions over the issue by dubbing it
as a sensitive issue, but the ultimate the sufferer still remains the daily commuter,
who are risking their life's by crossing
over this overloaded bridge.
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