The Madurai bench of the Madras High Court on Wednesday, December 21, sought response from authorities after a petition was filed seeking temporary closure of Super Saravana Stores in Madurai’s Mattuthavani neighbourhood. Among other issues, the petition filed by Madurai-based activist Henri Tiphagne said that with construction activity still pending at the mall, vehicles parked on the road have caused major traffic congestion, causing inconvenience to the public including patients visiting a hospital nearby. Henri mentioned in the petition that the superstore, sprawled over five acres, has begun operating despite ongoing construction work and inadequate safety provisions.
The petition sought an interim stay on the functioning of the entire supermarket, or the closure of a few floors, until its construction is completed and until authorities take appropriate action against the management over alleged violations of safety regulations and disruptions to the public. The ten-storeyed Super Saravana Stores was inaugurated recently on December 5, in Madurai’s Lake Area locality near the Mattuthavani MGR bus stand.
The locality around the Mattuthavani bus stand houses many important institutions and businesses, and is usually very busy with government and private buses connecting Madurai to other parts of Tamil Nadu and other states. As the construction of the Super Saravana Stores building remains unfinished, many vehicles are parked on both sides of the road, and this has been the cause of major traffic congestion on the Melur Road, the petition said. The traffic congestion ends up disrupting the commute of the general public and also the patients visiting the Meenakshi Mission Hospital nearby, it added.
The peition also alleged encroachment of a water channel and sought the intervention of the Public Works Department in the matter. A channel of excess water from Sathaiyar dam was encroached upon by the mall, and this would lead to the entry of rainwater in the residences of Lake Area during the monsoon, the petition alleged. Despite filing a complaint over WhatsApp requesting authorities to take action, there was no progress, according to the petition.
Henri also mentioned in the petition that the Super Saravana Stores building was granted permission to operate despite lacking emergency exits. It also said that authorities have not thoroughly checked the efficiency of the waste management system of the expansive ten-storeyed building. Apart from this, the petition also sought certain measures from district and civic authorities, including the creation of a 'no-parking' zone between the Mattuthavani bus stand and the Meenakshi Mission Hospital to avoid obstructions to people visiting the hospital. Parking must be prohibited on the stretch of the road leading to the bypass road as well, and clear pavements must be provided for the public to walk freely on both sides of the road, the petition suggested.
Justice Murali Shankar, who heard the petition, questioned how the building was permitted to operate before the completion of construction work and without sufficient safety provisions. The court has ordered the district Collector, Revenue Divisional Officer, Police Commissioner, Traffic Police Commissioner, and the Supervising Engineer of the Public Works Department to file their responses to the petition and adjourned the case till December 23.