CHENNAI: The New Avadi Road that was emerging as a threat to motorists and pedestrians will now become a safer space as the Greater Chennai Corporation on Thursday removed 60 shops and temporary sheds that had encroached upon the 700-metre stretch from ICF rail museum till Nathamuni theatre.
Due to encroachments, the footpaths on this stretch had narrowed down. After the anti-encroachment drive, the road will be restored to its orginal width of 40 feet. The GCC also plans to build new footpaths on the stretch.
Guhan V, assistant executive engineer for the area, said, "There are footpaths but they are encroached. Last week, we removed about 75 encroachments that included shops, houses, temporary sheds and vendors. That was on the south side of the road.
This week, we are going to remove all encroachments on the north side of the road," he said.
The encroachments on the stretch have been responsible for creating traffic bottlenecks. Many vehicle garages used to occupy the road while some furniture shops displayed their products on the road, blocking traffic.
Prakash S, a commuter, said traffic on the stretch was often stalled due to these encroachments.
"Removal of encroachments on this key stretch will actually help reduce traffic snarls," he said.
Guhan said that all encroachers are cooperating in the eviction process. "About 30 shops evicted on their own and shifted out. Almost all shop owners are cooperating because they knew they were encroaching on the road and had to be removed. We had issued notices to them a month ago and had also given them enough time to look for an alternate shop," he said.
Most of the shops were there for over two decades, and the road that was about 40 feet earlier had narrowed down because of these encroachments.
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