Aid still eludes shopkeepers

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: More than two weeks have passed since the fire that gutted 14 shops at the Connemara Market, Palayam, causing a loss of over ` 10 lakh, but the merchants are yet to receive any financial assistance from the authorities.  Ministers V S Sivakumar and P K Kunhalikutty, along with Mayor K Chandrika, had visited the market after the fire. Naturally, the grief-stricken traders assumed compensation would follow. They waited for days and are gradually adjusting themselves to the grim reality that bureaucratic red tape is likely to dash their hopes.  The gutted shops include a number of small ones selling domestic utensils, vegetable and fruit shops and a footwear shop. The owners of these shops were smallscale vendors who relied entirely on the income from the shops for livelihood. ‘’Despite the Ministers’ visit, we got no assurance about any compensation,’’ lamented Maniyan, who lost his small shop which sold domestic utensils to the fire. The leaders of Kerala Vyapari Vyavasayi Ekopana Samithi expressed fury at the Corporation and district administration for not providing any financial assistance to the merchants. The Connemara Market vegetable unit president S Sivan alleged that they have not received any intimation from  the authorities regarding the compensation. ‘’The Mayor asked us to rebuild the shops without indicating who will bear the expenses,’’ he said. The shops were leased out to the merchants by the Corporation. So the responsibility to renovate the shops lies with the Corporation, he said. Besides the lethargic approach of the Corporation officials, the merchants are worried over safety. ‘’This is the fourth incident of this type since 1998. But the police officials are not able to identify the real cause of the fire. We also suspect the hands of anti-social elements behind these regular fire outbreaks,’’ Sivan alleged. Meanwhile, the Corporation is dodging the issue of compensation. ‘’The district administration has been informed and they have to pay,’’ said Corporation Heath and Education Standing Committee Chairman S Pushpalatha. With the Corporation not heeding their requests and the district administration looking the other way, the owners of the shops have no inkling of how to reopen them. A few others have tried to reconstruct their shops using scraps, but they are unsure whether to retain them or not as there is nothing to sell.