Chennai: Traders in Chennai particularly those who have their firms in commercial hubs like T Nagar and Purasawalkam are in a state of panic as their illegal buildings are now under scanner and demand action against Tamil Nadu Electricity Board officials for fluctuating power supply resulting in fire accidents due to short circuits.

“This is the third fire accident that happened recently, first being in Adambakkam and latter in T. Nagar and Purasawalkam. TNEB department is to be held responsible as the electricity is not supplied properly and it often fluctuates,” said T. Vellaiyan, president, Tamil Nadu Traders Federation. Pointing out that most of the fire accidents were due to short circuits and low voltage the traders’ union leader also demanded action against the electricity board officials for voltage fluctuations and short circuits. Only traders are usual blamed but it is the responsibility of authorities also to oversee and prevent fire accidents.

Moreover, CMDA and corporation officials give approval for the buildings but when there is an issue the authorities find fault with traders. Also, the fire service department must improve in terms of technologies. In T Nagar there was no trained staff to operate the high end crane fitted with fire fighting gun this is status of our fire service department, why blame traders alone,” Vellaiyan said.

The recent notice by the corporation and fire safety officials had also added to the mental agony of traders. “Earlier, the corporation officials would visit us periodically to check if fire safety norms are adhered but now notices are served and we are asked to de-occupy the shop, which is our only source of income,” said Pankaj Shah, textile shop owner at Sowcarpet.

Muhammad Jalal who runs a shop in Purasawalkam told it would need a lot of money and moreover, it occupies a lot of space. “In this petty shop, if we install fire safety equipment, there won’t be any space left to stock the inventory. Extending the shop is also impossible, when a square of land is so expensive,” he said. Absence of emergency exit is also an issue in Sowcarpet, Kellys and Purasawalkam where the calm residential area had been converted in to commercial zones and now the traders in these areas are worried without options.

Traders: Take cue from Andhra on regularisation

“More than 99 per cent of buildings in Tamil Nadu including government constructions have violations and demolishing them or altering such structures is not feasible,” Tamil Nadu Traders Federation president A. Vikramaraja told reporters on Monday.

After meeting Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palanisami to express the opinion of traders and vendors on GST and illegal buildings issue, Vikramaraja said he has requested the state to take a cue from neighboring Andhra Pradesh in addressing the illegal building issue, where structures with violations have been fined and then regularized.

Pointing out that political parties were issuing statement seeking action against traders and commercial firms, Vikramaraja demanded the state and the political parties to understand the issues faced by traders and for once help them to solve the issues. Commenting on GST, he said that the CM was positive towards the issues raised by traders.

Traders have requested for a small welfare board that will address the problems of small traders and vendors in the state.