Tarun Karthick
Sri Vijaya Puram, 16 May 2025
In a startling show of defiance, unlawful fruit distributors who had been evicted from a chosen No-Vending Zone within the School Line space on the afternoon of May 15 had been again in enterprise by night — at the exact same spot.
Officials of the Sri Vijaya Puram Municipal Council (SVPMC) had been seen clearing the realm earlier within the day, confiscating carts and eradicating distributors working illegally close to the perimeter of the Veer Savarkar International Airport. Trucks had been deployed to move the seized carts, signaling a visual enforcement motion.
However, inside a span of just some hours, Nicobar Times witnessed the return of the identical distributors — again in place, persevering with gross sales as if no motion had taken place. The swift reappearance raises severe questions concerning the efficacy of the enforcement measures, the power of native legal guidelines, and whether or not a system of impunity has taken root.
The School Line stretch, the place this merchandising takes place, lies adjoining to the operational runway of Veer Savarkar International Airport — a dual-use facility serving each civilian and defence plane. The sale of fruits in open areas near the runway is a documented aviation hazard because of the elevated chance of fowl attraction, a recognized explanation for plane fowl strikes.
The potential penalties of such exercise are alarming. Bird strikes can inflict extreme injury on plane, endanger passengers and crew, and end in vital monetary losses. The proximity of the merchandising space to a high-security airport makes the chance much more acute, posing a transparent risk to each nationwide defence infrastructure and public security.
The space has lengthy been labeled as a No-Vending Zone exactly to mitigate these dangers. Yet, the repeated return of those distributors — usually inside hours of being evicted — reveals a disturbing sample of disregard for the regulation and public security.
Local residents and observers are left to surprise: Is this a case of weak laws, lax enforcement, or has the system itself been gamed by those that proceed to flout the foundations with out concern of consequence?
Authorities should now confront the tough actuality that routine evictions are not a deterrent. If pressing, sustained, and punitive measures should not adopted, the state of affairs might escalate right into a tragedy — one that might have been simply prevented.
The time for symbolic motion has handed. What is required now’s lasting enforcement, coverage reform, and above all, accountability.
