Tambaram market to be decongested soon

Chennai: The ever-busy Tambaram market is set get a make over soon, as the municipality has proposed a plan to decongest the stretch. The arterial Shanmugam road, which is now occupied by street vendors and encroachments, thus making the place a choke-a-block will be widened with exclusive spaces for roadside shops.

The state government has allotted Rs 3.5 crore for the project. More than 150 vendors occupy the streets, and another 150 larger shops are located on either side of the road. The new plan would pave way for a one-way system in the stretch, which is 60 feet wide. Four feet from both the sides would be allotted for registered street vendors who would be allowed to cover the shops with umbrellas but not with permanent sheds.

Electricity for these shops would also be arranged by the municipality. A center median – four feet wide, would come up which would allow streetlights to illuminate the market area. A part of the road would be made friendly for pedestrian to walk across and light vehicles to move.

Traffic flow in the stretch would be made one-way from Tambaram Kakkan road – Tambaram GST road while the traffic from the opposite direction can take the Rajaji Salai to reach Shanmugam road.

“The type of design to be followed here is a replica of some streets at Barcelona,” said the municipal chairman M. Kariakalan. “The plan would be executed in the next few weeks. “No new shops will be allowed to mushroom once the make over is done,” the chairman added. Representatives of the street vendors demanded that the project be implemented without any delay.