Chennai: Even a year after Greater Chennai Corporation created zonal vending committees to streamline vendors and clear encroachments, and despite multiple Madras high court directions, many encroachments remain in GCC’s demarcated 188 non-vending zones.In March, Madras HC gave GCC eight weeks to remove the encroachments. Still, several key stretches such as Anna Nagar Second Avenue, Pantheon Lane, Velachery Main Road and Loop Road have a high number of encroachments.In key stretches such as NSC Bose Road, Marina Loop Road and Marina Beach, corporation has taken no action. Even the court’s direction to allot shops and cap the number of vendors to 300 has not been followed.The new vending committee, formed in 2025, is supposed to streamline the 75,000 vendors, place them in 150 vending zones and clear off the 188 non-vending zones.Advocate N Rukamangadhan, who has filed writ petitions in this regard, said GCC has been showing utter disregard for court directions. “There are clear directions to remove the encroachments in non-vending zones. Yet, the zonal officials are not removing them. They earlier cited elections. What’s the excuse now? It is a clear contempt,” he said, wondering if the officials were allowing the shops to encroach on roads in return for favours.The vending committee has to address directions in more than 200 writ petitions. The court directed the vending committee to provide solutions to the vendors who were to be evicted as well. Former town vending committee member N Balamurugan said the GCC barely chaired 10 meetings in the last three years. “No consensus has come from the meeting. The new committee only met once,” he said.A GCC revenue official said they are reviewing the pending work. “Many departments resumed work last month after the MCC was lifted. With a govt change, we are reviewing the work left with the concurrence of the minister and secretary, too. It will be taken up soon,” the official said.
