Over 120 vendors to be relocated from Teppakulam in Tiruchi to decongest busy roads

The Tiruchi City Corporation’s plan to relocate vendors from Teppakulam, a busy commercial area near Rockfort, to Yanaikulam ground is in final stages

The Tiruchi City Corporation’s plan to relocate vendors from Teppakulam, a busy commercial area near Rockfort, to Yanaikulam ground is in final stages.

The Corporation’s council passed a resolution last year allowing the vendors to develop shops on Yanaikulam ground as they were found to be posing a hindrance to pedestrians in commercial centres.

Following this, the civic body allotted 0.6 acres of land on Yanaikulam ground in Singarathope to relocate 120 vendors from Teppakulam, N.S.B. Road, and Nandhi Koil Street. A total of 150 shops and over 500 street vendors have been doing business in these shopping centres.

According to the officials, the vendors were told to mobilise funds through crowdfunding to construct the shops. A notice has been issued to traders to relocate from Teppakulam and make use of the Yanaikulam ground. “The plan to relocate the vendors is in final stages, and we expect to shift them within two months. We are yet to finalise the rent for the shops,” said a senior Corporation official.

Around 120 shops will be developed on 0.6 acres of land and each shop will have a floor area of 80 square feet. All basic facilities will be provided, including drinking water and toilets in the ground. The civic body will rent out the space and the vendors can set up stalls there, the official added.

In order to decongest commercial centres, the civic body is considering regulating the parking of vehicles on the streets near Teppakulam and removing encroachments on pedestrian platforms near the Main Guard Gate with help from the police.

Though the residents welcomed the civic body’s efforts to relocate the shops, they said that measures should be initiated to safeguard the tank from pollution.