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Street vendors in Indirapuram say cops force them to shut by afternoon
Street vendors in Indirapuram said they are being made to shut shop by mid-afternoon daily, by the beat police -- an action that is also affecting their livelihood
Street vendors in Indirapuram said they are being made to shut shop by mid-afternoon daily, by the beat police -- an action that is also affecting their livelihood and earnings. The vendors said policemen often chased them away by 2pm and do not allow them to operate from 9am to 9pm, as permitted by the district administration.
On June 7, the district magistrate had said that shops will be allowed to open from 9am to 9pm from June 8. Till June 7, grocery shops were allowed to open from 10am to 4pm while fruit/vegetable shops were allowed to open from 10am to 2pm.
“The police do not allow us to operate after 2pm and they drive us away. They sometimes make off with the weighing scales to prevent us from carrying on with our business. So when evening comes, and people step out to make purchases, we lose out on the business,” Amit Kumar, a vendor at Kala Patthar, said.
The traders’ association members have written to the district magistrate, police officers and the chief minister about the issue.
“We sent a letter on June 8 to chief minister Yogi Adityanath, highlighting that small vendors are not being allowed to operate after 2pm. We have also highlighted that markets should be allowed to open on all days, same as liquor shops operating all days from 9am to 9pm. The administration must also consider problems of markets in Vaishali , an area that has been sealed since June 1,” Pradeep Gupta, convener of Vyapari Ekta Samiti , Indirapuram, said.
Social activists have also raised the issue and also spoken to police.
“The vendors are mostly dependent on directions from the local police. When I observed the closed shopsand required as to the reason, vendors told me that police were troubling them. Vendors in areas of Ahimsa Khand 2, near Aditya Mall road and Kala Patthar are facing this problem,” Alok Kumar, a social activist from Indirapuram, said.
Anshu Jain, circle officer of Indirapuram said she will be issuing directions again to the local police stations and police posts. “We are trying our level best to communicate directions to the lower rung officers. I will look into the issue and ask officers to implement the directions of the district administration,” she said.
