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Chandigarh’s Sector 22 market has 6 registered street vendors for each designated spot
UT admn panel finalises space for only 160 vendors even as MC had registered 960
For Chandigarh municipal corporation (MC) it’s a problem of plenty: 960 vendors have been registered by the MC at the Sector 22 market even though only 160 of them can be accommodated.
A committee headed by the UT home secretary, in 2017, including UT planning department and MC officials, had fixed at 160 the number of vendors who could be adjusted in the market.
“The committee was formed after the UT urban planning department had categorically stated that there were no additional spaces left in Sectors 19, 17 and 22 for vendors. The committee asked the MC officials for a fresh survey of the markets. In Sector 22, after the survey, the committee concluded that there was space for 160 vendors,” said a senior UT administration official requesting anonymity as he’s not authorised to speak to the media.
The mismatch
“The mismatch between the designated number of spots for vendors and actual vendors registered was scrutinised by the district administration after deputy commissioner (DC) Mandip Singh Brar ordered MC to remove the unauthorised vendors from the Sector 22 on July 30,” the official said.
The DC’s order followed the Punjab and Haryana high court (HC) directions to the UT administration to clear the Sector 22 market (including Shastri Market) of squatters and not allow shop owners to encroach upon the corridors. Issuing a one week deadline to the administration and asking for a status report, the HC bench of justice Rajiv Sharma and justice HS Sidhu on July 26 had said the DC and SSP would be personally liable to implement it in letter and spirit.
Significantly, at the culmination of the two-day drive and after inspecting the market, the DC had expressed dissatisfaction with MC’s effort, which was also communicated to the MC top brass.
The DC is expected to submit the action taken report to HC next week.
MC response
When contacted, KK Yadav, commissioner, MC, said, “The 160 spots will be allocated only after we get a go ahead for rehabilitating the vendors at alternative designated locations. Thereafter, only 160 vendors will be allowed in the sector while others will be removed. The registration of vendors started before the number of spots was fixed.”
An HC coordinate bench had earlier stayed the removal of squatters who figure in the list of surveys conducted by the MC for rehabilitation under the Street Vendors’ Act.
The central legislation aims at registering and rehabilitating street vendors and also saving them from exploitation at the hands of enforcement officers. It also calls for proper rationing of urban streets and spaces.
According to the Act, non-essential service providers — vegetable and fruit sellers besides those selling clothes, accessories and other wares on the roadside or at kiosks in market areas — are to be rehabilitated in the new vending zones. Vendors providing essential services — washerman, cobbler, barber, cycle repairman, tea seller — will not be moved. However, both the categories will have to pay a monthly fee.
The Chandigarh MC has registered around 9,300 street vendors, who are to be rehabilitated across the city.
