Recently lots of residents including our DLF-1 leaders have been making efforts towards removing street vendors due to the unhygienic conditions and the ruckus they create on the GFR Road and other areas.
However, these street hawkers are a part of our ecosystem and if we are not able to remove them, we should try and make provisions so they coexist in a clean and organised manner. There have been various models for dedicated vendor zones implemented in many cities and are working beautifully. Street vendors are asked to register and are given a dedicated area called the “Vendor Zone” to put their carts. The sanitation and infrastructure of these areas are managed by the local administration.
This system will help us track the vendors that are coming and selling. Remember, that these vendors are there because there is a need as well. Many residents buy from them and I remember that these vendors have been very helpful to us during COVID-19 times.
Coming back to the core issue. If their ID cards are made then MCG will be able to keep a tab on the number of vendors and also take responsibility for maintaining the space. This is probably the only solution to make sure that we can co-exist and still keep a clean and safe environment.
According to the Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending Act, 2014 street vending was given a legal tag to enable the street vendors to earn their livelihood by selling their food items or other things through vending in the vending zones created by the local administration. The Town Vending Committee is responsible for conducting surveys of all the vendors under its jurisdiction, and such a survey must be conducted every five years.
We encourage residents to share their thoughts on this subject and come up with solutions for the current problem at hand.
