Chennai Corporation — government footpath encroached and rented out by anti-social elements - thiruvanmiyur - thiruvalluvar nagar - adyar - zone 13

Address:

Chennai, Tamil Nadu, 600041

Respectable Sirs' & Madams'

We are writing to you from H2, Gateway Apartments, 1st Avenue Road, Thiruvanmiyur, Chennai - 600041. We, includes the Flat Secretary Mr. ND Raja, Treasurer - Mr. Nadhakumar, President - Mr. S Murugan on behalf of the 18 houses situated inside the H2 flat premises (Gateway Apartments).

We would like to bring to your kind notice that the Chennai Corporation, with the support of Chennai Police, has recently removed the entire unauthorized encroachments which is built on the footpath of the 1'st Avenue road (which is also called New Beach Road) on 05.03.2018.

Further to that incidence, we have sent an email to you on 15.03.2018, complaining that the vendors occupying our flat premises (private property) to keep their belongings.

On 19.03.2018, Police Patrol came back to warn the platform vendors not to keep their personal belongings such as Refrigerator, Bucket, Chairs, Tables, Water Containers, Distribution Counters inside the flat premises.

All the vendors have obeyed to the police warning and removed their belongings, except the Aavin Milk vendor, who is not ready to obey the police warning. Once the police have left, he is once again keeping his two Vapour-Compression Refrigeration machine (covered under brown sack) inside the flat premises. To the residents horror, he is running the shop from inside the flat premises.

Also, on behalf of all the residents at H1 and H2 Apartments, we would like to inform the corporation, we do not want the Aavin Milk shop anywhere near our flat premises. We have come to know that he is trying to apply for a license to set shop on the platform again. We urge the corporation not to give the law breaker a license here or anywhere.

In addition to this, We regret to say that there could be several discrepancies and serious transgressions on the part of some Government officials. At present, all the platform shops have returned to their old places on the platform. These shops are stationed at the same places from Morning to Midnight. Despite making several complaints, we feel that enough action was not taken by the Police Department and the Corporation officials.

Some of the incidences, which we residents witnessed after the footpath shops re-occupation on pavements, are as follows;

1. In front of the H1 apartment, there is a Fast Food shop where the illegal vendor culprit cooks and hangs a series of fried chicken, to the distress of the pavement commuters. He opens the shop at 6.00 PM (evening) and closes the shop around 11.00 PM (at Night). He has the luxury of doing this business on the footpath, at that open area where anyone can see, and has never been challenged by the power of law.

2. In the middle of the H1 and the H2 apartment, comes the Aavin milk and supplementary shop, he has further broken the apartment compound wall and widened the opening, and made that as his entry into the flat. Further to this, he has occupied some portion of the residents private property. Now, he is comfortably running his shop from inside the flat premises. This threatens the flat residents privacy and security. This shop is open from Morning 6.00 AM to Night 8.00 PM which is partially hidden behind the flat compound wall.

3. Paani Poori Shop - There is a Paani Poori (chat shop) on this Platform. We are able to see 2-3 North Indians standing at this shop every day. These people are nowhere connected to Tamil Nadu. We suspect that some anti-social elements from the local area might be behind this shop installation, on this platform. This shop is a permanently installed distribution bunker, and runs from evening 6.00 PM to Night 10.00 PM on all days. Out of this shop, they drop a large chunk of garbage on the platform to the pedestrians distress. Sometimes, we are able to these North Indians wandering inside our apartment premises. Hence, we are also worried that the presence of these North Indian migrants / strangers in front of our houses, could affect our security, since chances of their involvement in child trafficking, thievery, and burglary at South India are very high.

4. Vegetable Shop - Next comes the vegetable vendor in front of the H1 apartment, near to our entry gate. He occupies a large chunk of area on the platform. To his convenience, he has removed all the platform bricks, which was laid by the Chennai Corporation, whereabouts of those bricks are now unknown. You can see a Mini-truck type of vehicle (Ashok Leyland - TN 07 BP 5971, with the text Ganesh written in Tamil, on the forehead of this truck) always occupying and stationed on the road, always parked in front of the apartment. Flat residents are nowhere connected to this vehicle. The vegetable shop owner owns this vehicle. This shop actively runs from Morning 6.00 AM to Night 9.00 PM at the same place.

5. Raavuthar Chicken and Biriyani Center - This shop is most richest and actively running shop among all the other platform shops. The turnover of this biriyani shop in a month is to be roughly assumed and estimated as Rs. 1 Crore. They pay No taxes to anyone and chances o[censored]naccounted revenue are very high. It runs on the right end corner of the H2 apartment, near to the corporation garbage container. This shop is stationed at the same place. When we ask the biriyani shop to move the shop a little far so that we can easily drive through our car gate, the owner of that shop threatens us back saying that he is a lawyer. Such power vested law breakers. The Biriyani shop time is from Morning 12.00 AM to 3.00 PM Afternoon, and then from evening 6.00 PM to 9.30 PM Night. No custodian of law has questioned them till now.

Besides these four shops, there are series of many other Fast food and Biriyani shops, on the platforms, which are stationed before H3, and also before H4 Apartments also, to their respective residents' concerns. All these shops are being operated on all the days.

At present, all these shops have come back and remains at the same place, on the platforms. Out of these incidences, we are unhappy that there are mistakes are on the part of some Government officials who may have supported these platform shop vendors. We suspect that there could be a active continuous network between the platform shop vendors and some corrupt Government officials. Instead of regulating the Law, they act as a middlemen. At present, though some vendors pretend to run their business on a mobile vehicle, they go nowhere, they have stuck on to these platforms permanently. Hence, we would also like to request the Income Tax and Anti Corruption wing to look into these matters.

Unless or until the Police department undertakes a strict action on these offenders, they are not going to move out of this place. So we request to do the needful to restore the required and respected Law.

Yours truly

ND Raja - Flat Secretary
Nandhakumar - Treasurer
S Murugan - President