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The usually crowded streets of T. Nagar wore a deserted look on Thursday following a strike by traders to condemn the sealing of illegal buildings in the area by Chennai Metropolitan and Development Agency and Chennai corporation.
Around 2,500 shops in the commercial district, including pavement traders, downed shutters from 10 am to 6 pm alleging that action by civic bodies had resulted in huge economic loss besides affecting the livelihood of many people. On October 31, CMDA and Chennai corporation sealed 25 buildings in T.Nagar, including six big retail firms and 19 shopping complexes for violating norms. The civic body had also indicated that it would resume its action against 30 more illegal structures in the area whose notice period was coming to an end in a week. “Over 60 per cent of shops are rented whose owners have no clue about violation of norms. They are penalised only for being located inside these old buildings constructed over 40 years ago,” said A.M Vikrama Raja, president of the Federation of Tamil Nadu Traders associations. Seeking immediate reopening of shops, he said crores of stocks including perishables have been sealed rendering many people jobless. The federation sought the chief minister’s intervention and said over 400 city associations will submit a memorandum to her next week. The one-day shutdown of shops on Ranganathan street, South Usman Road, Rameswaram Road and Sathya Bazaar had resulted in loss of about Rs 20 crore of business and about Rs 10 lakh loss to the state exchequer in the form of sales tax. Though the total shutdown took most shoppers by surprise, some prudent retailers had sent text messages to customers informing them about the strike. However, Pondy Bazaar remained active as the traders claimed that they came to know about the strike call only at the last minute. -dc chn |
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