Forced Evictions, livelihood loss and Trauma

Amongst the series of forced evictions happening in Chennai, evictions of street vendors at NSC bose road is another that is creating a ruckus in the area. 

Image: At centre of the image is Sarisi at NSC bose road. 

Sarisi had been selling fruits at the NSC bose road since she was 10 years old. She is 48 years old now and has already gone through two forced evictions , her home and her shop that's the source of her livelihood . The recent supreme court order that declared nsc bose 

road as a non hawking area has affected livelihood of almost 300 families . "It's the women who are affected ,our men do not contribute or generate income, we have to work hard to feed our children" said Sarisi who has a big family of three grandchildren to take care of. 

Sarisi had a big fruit shop at nsc bose road which is now only a tray of fruits she carries to sell. Her mother Kisthaveni who is 85 year sells papaya and pitch in money everyday for the family . She travels from Guindy, Orukupettai where she lives now to Nsc bose road everyday. Sarisi also sells at Koyamedu in the morning 4am everyday after which she has to take her goods to

the nsc bose road by 9am. 

Image : Kisthaveni 

Other vendors like Sarisi at the nsc bose road say that they face a downfall in sales now. The pandemic adversely affected them and the eviction has further taken a toll on them financially, mentally and physically . 

Jamal Kadhar and Swaminathan run a utensil shop for the last 25 years at nsc bose road whose shop wasn’t affected by the eviction since it happened to be at the end lane of the road. “Our neighborhood shops are all removed, it looks different now, you see all these parking areas

were filled with shops” said Kadhar pointing to the road sideways. 

Image: Prakash 

40 year old Prakash had been selling vegetables at the nsc bose road since he was 18. “This job is all we know, we are only asking for a squeezed in little space to work, it's unfair to ask us to leave “he said. 

Sarisi detailed how the alternative spots allotted at the nearby dental hospital premises and the TNPSC road are unfit and dangerous especially after 6pm. “ We are all women, we can’t be in that area ,it's scary and the officials do not care,” she said. 

The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has marked alternative spots for them on stretches in TNPSC Road and Muthuswamy Road. “They don't have places to put up shops , we cannot provide all of their demands as well but some measures are good in the long run”, commented

Rajendiran, the chief engineer at chennai corporation. Some of the vendors are now hawking in the lanes adjacent to NSC Bose Road like Bunder Street and Badrian Street. 

As complaints about the alternative spots rise, Chokkalingam- the zonal officer at the municipal corporation said " When the supreme court had stated that its a no hawking place; that's the rule". He further said that they have decided on the alternative spots that are fit to relocate the shops. 

Image : V Anandhan 

V. Annadhan, who had been the traffic police officer at the nsc bose road for the past three years finds the moving of the street vendors as an advantage . "Its too much crowd to handle here, so I don’t see a problem in shifting some from here” he said. 

Vendors like Sarisi who faces the direct brunt of this move also details how they are deeply connected to the place. “I have been here for decades, my mother and all our mothers walked in these streets to sell goods", recounts Sarisi. She also complained about how the gcc officials snatch away the goods they try to sell. The vendors carry goods in small pouches and try to sell their goods adjacent to the big shops, but that is also under inspection now.

Image : NSC bose road -place where the shops were removed from. 

The vendors complained about how the media doesn't cover their stories and they feel isolated despite being at their best service for decades.

The shops that are already shifted haven't yet started functioning like they used to and are depending on other nearby streets to sell their goods. " We don't go to the spot allocated because we face harassment, hygiene issues and we do not have a market there, we would rather walk around and sell" , another vendor said.

Image : vendors have squeezed their shops into small tray shops at NSC bose road.