MC to issue licences to 680 hawkers in Panchkula

Tribune News Service

Panchkula, December 24

The Municipal Corporation has decided to issue licences to vegetable and fruit hawkers. Only licensed hawkers will be allowed to operate on streets.

The monthly charge for licensed hawkers will be Rs3,000 for non-motorised carts and Rs5,000 for motorised carts.

“For obtaining the licence, hawkers can submit their applications to the Superintendent of the enforcement wing between December 27 and 31 at the Sector 12 community centre,” said Mayor Kulbhushan Goyal today.

The licences would be issued on a first-come-first-served basis. For now, only 680 hawkers (20 in each sector) will be issued licences.

The mandatory documents to be submitted with the application are a passport size photograph and a copy of Aadhaar card. “The push carts of hawkers found roaming around without a proper licence will be impounded,” MC officials said.

A decision to issue licences was taken at a recent meeting of general House the MC.

According to officials, vendors, who have been allotted spaces in vending zones, will not be allowed to submit their application for the licence. Similarly, the licensed hawkers will not be allowed to operate in the vending zones.

“It is big step towards making the city encroachment-free,” said Goyal. A total of 16 vending zones are to be set up in the city. At least eight will be built in the trans-Ghaggar sectors.

Eight vending zones have been established in Sector 2, 4, 8, 10, 11, 12, 15 and 19 in which a total of 778 sites have been allotted. However, most of the vendors who have been allotted sites in the Sector 19 vending zone (the first and biggest) were yet to take possession despite repeated warnings.

Street vendors in Sector 20 had recently protested against the MC for “conducting an eviction drive without allocating them space in vending zones.” They had alleged that civic body was acting against the Street Vendors Act by snatching their livelihood.