E-Paper
Mohali yet to cap illegal vending in prime market areas
The issue of encroachment has been on the table in every MC house meeting for the last several years, but no action has been taken on the issue so far
Even as the UT administration finally removed the vendors from several prime sectors and relocated them to the new vending zones, Mohali still has a long way to go as far as implementing the Street Vendors Act is concerned.
The vendors in the city have encroached upon prominent markets of Mohali leaving hardly any free walking space even in the parking lots. And the civic body seems to have completely failed to check the mushrooming of illegal vending in the city.
Interestingly, the issue of encroachment has been on the table in every MC house meeting for the last several years, but no action has been taken on the issue so far.
VENDORS HIGH AND DRY
Three years back, the municipal corporation (MC) of Mohali, in a third-party survey, had identified 993 vendors in total, but two years on, sites are yet to be approved by the town vending committee. The lack of a concrete decision has left the street vendors in a lurch.
In the last six months, the civic body has been able to issue only 290 identity cards to vendors under the Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending Act, 2014.
The agency that conducted the survey had earmarked around 15 sites in Phases 10,11, 7, 3B1 and 3B2, but the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) had refused on the ground that these were prime locations.
On the other hand, the MC enforcement wing has failed to stop illegal vendors operating from the main markets of the city.The worst hit areas are Phases 7, 3B1, 3B2, 9, 10, and 11.
MC commissioner Kamal Kumar said, “We will be holding a meeting in this regard soon and will try to implement the same. Identity cards have been issued to 296 vendors and as far as the issuing of licences is concerned, we will issue them once the sites are finalised.”
PROCESS HANGING FIRE SINCE 2015
The process of identification of the vendors started in 2015. MC Mohali had hired a private company to carry out a survey. Initially, the firm had identified 2,295 vendors but the MC house had found anomalies in the survey and a fresh survey was ordered. In 2017, the MC finally marked 993 moving and stationery vendors in the city.
Jatinder Pal Singh, president of Phase 3B2 market welfare association said, “We have requested the concerned authority several times to take action against illegal vendors, but nothing has been done so far. There is no place in even the parking lot as it has been encroached upon by the vendors.”
