The local bodies department on Saturday notified 64 vending zones in the city which can accommodate around 9,000 street vendors.
In a survey conducted earlier, MC had identified 21,725 street vendors in the city, of which 5,925 are in Zone A, 5,377 in Zone B, 3,654 in Zone C and 6,769 in Zone D.
As per the notification, six vending zones with a capacity of 1,543 vendors will be established in Zone A , 17 zones with a capacity of 3,354 in Zone B; 11 zones with a capacity of 1,174 in Zone C and 30 zones with a capacity of 2,918 in Zone D.
The project been hanging fire for over six years and MC still has to go a long way to establish the zones at ground level and shift the vendors to these sites.
Also, only six zones have been identified in Zone A where long traffic jams are witnessed due to roadside vendors.
Only those vendors who have got themselves registered with MC by paying a fee of Rs 750 will be allotted a space in the zones.The MC will be provide facilities like lights and potable water supply in exchange. The local bodies department has also kept the provision of mobile street vendors
Mayor Balkar Sandhu said, “Anti-encroachments drives are already being conducted in the city and they will intensify in the future. Action will be taken against the vendors if they become a hurdle to smooth flow of traffic. The sites have been notified by the local bodies department, and even if they have not been developed yet, the vendors can be shifted there. Apart from the notified sites, many others have been identified and we will get those notified from the local bodies department in the coming time.”
{{/usCountry}}Mayor Balkar Sandhu said, “Anti-encroachments drives are already being conducted in the city and they will intensify in the future. Action will be taken against the vendors if they become a hurdle to smooth flow of traffic. The sites have been notified by the local bodies department, and even if they have not been developed yet, the vendors can be shifted there. Apart from the notified sites, many others have been identified and we will get those notified from the local bodies department in the coming time.”
{{/usCountry}}Meanwhile, the vendors rued that before intensifying anti-encroachments drives, MC should first set up the vending zones properly.
A roadside vendors from Model Town Extension, Gurman Singh said, “We are already struggling to make ends meet. MC should at least provide us a space which is properly developed before shifting us from the roadsides. The vending zones should also be established near the places where our vends currently are, otherwise we will lose customers.”
MC jumps the gun as NOCs awaited
While MC has got the sites notified from the local bodies department, it is yet to get NOC for a large number of sites from different departments including Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT), Greater Ludhiana Area Development Authority (GLADA), Industries department and National Highway Authority of India.