Persons with disabilities will get at least four shops in the newly opened bus terminus in Vellore as the corporation has decided to allot five percent of the total number of shops in the facility for them based on the government order received by the civic body on April 24.
Out of the total 85 shops, 10 shops are dedicated to public utilities like mothers feeding room, rest places for staff. The remaining 75 shops are commercial purpose.
The 75 shops in the terminus will be reauctioned for the public after two weeks, four shops, mostly on the ground floor of the facility, will be reserved for persons with disabilities. However, the corporation will stick to its policy of allotting one shop to each transgender person, Aavin and Tantea. Currently, only one shop is operating on an emergency basis at the terminus, mainly to cater to women, children, and senior citizens.
Exorbitant deposit amount
The minimum size of a shop is 100 sq.ft. Bigger shops with an area of 540 sq, 800 sq.ft, 1,200 sq.ft and 1,600 sq.ft are also available. Exorbitant deposit amount was the key reason for the low turnout of bidders during the public auctioning of shops at the terminus by the civic body on Thursday. Only seven shops were auctioned due to a poor turnout of bidders.
Civic officials said that the Corporation has fixed the base rate at ₹290 per sq.ft per month, whereas the deposit amount ranges from ₹5 lakh to ₹50 lakh for shops at the terminus depending on total area and accessibility. Shops on the ground floor have a higher deposit rate than those on the first floor. This has discouraged many prospective bidders from participating, as traders felt that the profit margins would be lower.
“Reducing the deposit amount for shops has to be decided by the State government based on the recommendations of the special committee under the Directorate of Municipal Administration,” P. Rathinasamy, Commissioner, Vellore Corporation, told The Hindu.
Corporation officials said that the civic body will reauction the shops again two weeks later based on the advice from DMA. Accordingly, the existing deposit amount might be reduced at least for shops on the first floor of the terminus, which has around 35 big shops, to attract more bidders for the shops at the terminus.
