EPS slams DMK govt’s move to demolish 800 shops in Coonoor

COIMBATORE: AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami on Sunday condemned the DMK govt’s plan to demolish 800 shops owned by the Coonoor municipality in the Nilgiris district. In a statement, Palaniswami said 800 people running small businesses at the shops and more than 2,000 people working there would be affected if the shops were demolished.

He demanded that the DMK govt allow them to continue running the shops.Palaniswami stated that after coming to power in 2021, the DMK govt increased the rent of the shops owned by local bodies in town panchayats, municipalities and corporations. “During the 2021 election campaign, M K Stalin said the rent for the 800 shops in the Coonoor municipality wouldn’t be increased. However, the DMK govt increased it in Coonoor municipality two years ago,” he said.He said apart from increasing the rent of the shops, the state govt planned to demolish the 800 shops and issued notices to the shopkeepers to vacate the premises. “The Coonoor municipality identified an alternative place one kilometre away from the present location. But tourist movements won’t be present there. The shopkeepers are forced to move to the new area where no basic amenities were provided by the municipality,” EPS said.The AIADMK would hold a massive protest with the support of shopkeepers and workers if the demolition move was not dropped, he said.