GMADA yet to hand over vending sites to civic body

Sanjay Bumbroo

Mohali, March 8

The Municipal Corporation, which is to implement the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act-2014, has been writing to the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) for the past two years for allotting sites for vending zones.

The MC had first ordered a survey to identify street vendors in the city in 2015 and since then, the implementation of the Street Vendors Act has remained stuck. The Act is aimed at registering and rehabilitating street vendors, and also safeguarding them against exploitation at the hands of enforcement officers. It also calls for proper rationing of urban streets and spaces.

As a result, illegal street vendors have occupied spaces in several main markets of the city, including Phase 3B1, 3B2, 9, 7, 10 and 11. Most of these vendors are operating from the parking area and market corridors.

The civic body had hired a private firm to carry out the survey and initially shortlisted 2,295 vendors, but the MC House found gaps in the survey and ordered it anew. Later in 2017, the civic body concluded that there were 993 moving and stationary vendors, a number that has increased manifold now.

MC Commissioner Kamal Kumar Garg said they had held several meetings and sent around 10 letters to GMADA urging them to hand over sites. In November last year, the GMADA had earmarked six sites but the same were not allotted to the MC. He said they were hopeful of getting possession of such sites soon following which the process of rehabilitating the vendors would start.

GMADA Chief Administrator Vipul Ujwal said the sites earmarked earlier were not feasible as these were concentrated at one place and not spread across the city. He said they had asked the MC to identify the sites again and send the same for approval.

In January 2020, the MC had decided to implement the Act first in Phase 7, where as many as 139 vendors have been registered.

About 200 out of the 993 vendors were issued identity cards by the MC, but were never given spaces to run their trade. The MC Commissioner had even asked the agency that conducted the survey to mark vending space in the parking areas, but the plan had fallen flat following objections by the market welfare association and the area councillor.