Traders Observe Fast
Traders staging a fast at Ukkadam in Coimbatore on Tuesday against the construction of a building near their market. Traders and their employees of shops in the Coimbatore Corporation’s shopping complex at Ukkadam in the city observed a fast on Tuesday to demand steps from the Corporation to ensure that the construction of a building nearby did not affect their business. Corporation Shop Merchants’ Association president Noor Mohammed said that the complex had 350 shops dealing with scrap iron, tools and vehicle spare parts. The new building would make the access to these shops narrow and also deny space to park vehicles. “The road is only 26 ft wide and this is shown as the access to the new building. As per building rules, permission for constructing the building can be given only if the access is at least 40 ft wide. But, the building is coming up and threatens to hit our business,” he said.
A press release from the association said that the traders had put up a fence around their shops to prevent any unauthorised entry. Later, to provide more protection, the association initiated the process of replacing the fence with a wall. Now, the new building was causing problems. While Perur MLA S.P. Velumani assured them that he would take up the issue with the authorities concerned, Corporation South Zone Chairman P. Pynthamil had called the traders for a discussion to find a solution, Mr. Noor Mohammed said.
