Fort Kochi: Freeze on eviction of street vendors

KOCHI: The Kochi Corporation Council on Wednesday decided to temporarily freeze its plan to evict street-vendors from Fort Kochi beach and nearby areas. The decision comes after a majority of the Councillors raised concern over the eviction of vendors during the Cochin Carnival that will be held at the Fort Kochi area between mid-December and January 1, 2012.  “With a majority of the Councillors raising concerns over the shifting of vendors during the Carnival, the Corporation is temporarily freezing the decision to evict them now. We will convey the decision of the Council to the District Collector,” said Deputy Mayor B Bhadra who chaired the council meeting. A decision on the eviction will be taken at the Council meeting in January second week.The Deputy Mayor also said that stringent action will be taken against the tax defaulters, as part of the Corporation’s tax collection drive. The revenue officer presented the list of property-tax defaulters at the Council meeting.  Bhadra said that the Revenue Department had already prepared a list of 159 buildings and served notices to the owners. “So far the department has conducted inspections on MG Road and Edappally bypass areas only. The top tax defaulters include hospitals, hotels and other commercial establishments,” she said.