Unauthorised structures around the Nehru Stadium were removed
Unauthorised structures around the Nehru Stadium in the city that were removed by the Corporation to re-lay footpath.The Coimbatore Corporation has demolished structures of shops that had encroached the pavement around the Nehru Stadium. This has left traders occupying shops in the stadium complex fuming over the damage caused to the drainpipes. Some of them say that the demolition has left sewage flowing in front of their shops and this is causing unhygienic conditions.More than 10 automobile component shops, a restaurant offering Chinese food, two pizza outlets, two non-vegetarian restaurants, a readymade garment store, a Government handloom items shop and also shops selling fitness equipment, vegetables and fruits and fresh juice and salads are among the commercial establishments that operate from the outer ring of the stadium rented out by the civic body.
The Corporation has refuted the claims by the shops that the pedestrian path has been damaged by the demolition drive and that this has caused inconvenience to the people. It says the traders had extended their shop structures into the pavements and had, actually, reduced the space for pedestrians.
Corporation Commissioner P. Muthuveeran says that some of the shops had created unhygienic conditions around the stadium. "I went around the stadium and noticed these conditions. We want to restore the footpath for pedestrians around the stadium," he says. "There was virtually no space for the pedestrians," says the Commissioner, rejecting the charges of the traders that only the demolition by the civic body has forced people to walk on the roads and risk getting hit by vehicles.The Corporation also plans to improve the V.O.C. Park and its surroundings as a recreation centre. The clean-up drive around the stadium is a part of it. "Even today (Tuesday), a consultant brought sketch of the proposed improvements," the Commissioner said.
