4 days ago
Devakottai traders refuse to vacate shops within 30 days for bus stand renovation works
Devakottai Town and Bus Stand Lease Shops Association submitted a petition with Collector Asha Ajith here on Monday refusing to vacate within 30 days for bus stand renovation works.
They also demanded extension of time period to vacate shops and allocation of outlets to the same traders after renovating the municipality bus stand.
As the renovation works are to commence at a cost of ₹12.8 crore, for the purpose of expanding the area of the bus stand, notice was issued to the shops operating in the nearby daily market and other areas, said A. Periyakaruppan, president of the association.
For expansion, about 110 shops in the daily market and 60 shops located at the bus stand, Tirupathur Road and Vadiyar Road, were asked by the municipal administration to vacate within the next 30 days, he added.
Demanding certain concessions for the shop owners who have been here for the past 30 years, he said that while opening the bus stand after renovation, the shops should be allocated to the same people who had already run their shops there.
'We suffered a heavy loss during the Covid-19 period by paying the rent for all the months when our shops were closed. Even after that, we continue to run our shops and pay the rent,' he added.
To compensate for the loss, Mr. Periyakaruppan noted that the six months' rent collected should be discounted.
In addition, as the shopkeepers had to find a suitable alternative location to the existing ones and had to arrange money for those works, the municipality should give them time for at least a year before asking them to vacate the shops, he added.
Otherwise, the local body themselves should provide a suitable alternative location till the renovation works were carried out in the bus stand, he noted.
He also made sure that they would not accept the 30-day period fixed by the administration to vacate the shops. He added that if their demands were not considered by the district administration, they would stage a protest.
