The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has released a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the removal of pushcarts and other encroachments from city streets.
In a document dated October 3, the Corporation instructed division-level Assistant Engineers to record all encroachments within their jurisdictions on the GCC app, along with photographs and details of the type of encroachment. The compiled data is to be forwarded to the respective zonal officers for review.
Following the enumeration, Assistant Executive Engineers (AEEs) are to issue one-day eviction notices to the encroaching vendors. The SOP mandates that eviction must be carried out immediately after identification, holding the AEE accountable for any delay in execution.
All material and debris resulting from the clearance are to be transported to the Kodungaiyur or Perungudi dumpyards.
Division officers have also been authorized to seek assistance from local police stations where necessary. The SOP calls for the deployment of vehicles and adequate manpower based on population density and requires that workers involved in eviction drives be provided with safety gear, including reflective jackets and helmets.
The directive further instructs AEEs to maintain thorough documentation of each clearance drive, including before-and-after photographs, which must be uploaded to the GCC app.
However, TNM contacted multiple vendors in Chennai, who were unaware of such an SOP. Further, vendors’ committee representative K Balaraman had told TNIE that the GCC was acting without consulting the elected representatives and that there was no clarity given regarding relocation for affected vendors.