Chennai, Jul 21 (IANS): The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has declared no hawker zones within 100 metres of educational institutions, religious places and hospitals and has directed all the five zones within the corporation to remove any hawkers found within this area.
The GCC directive came following an order of the Madras High Court in June on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Chennai-based advocate and social activist N. Rukmangathan.
The legal cell of the corporation has directed the officials in all the five zones to remove hawkers from these areas and to produce a compliance report.
Rukmangathan told media persons that he had moved the court as there were encroachments around busy institutions and places. He said that these encroachments led to a reduction in the walking area and road width.