No vendors at Chandigarh’s Sec-17 Plaza from April 1
No vendors will be allowed to sit in open spaces and corridors of buildings in the Sector-17 Plaza from April 1 as the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation has declared it as a no-vending zone
No vendors will be allowed to sit in open spaces and corridors of buildings in the Sector-17 Plaza from April 1 as the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation has declared it as a no-vending zone.
This comes in the wake of the civic body’s decision to issue temporary licences to street vendors at Sectors 17, 19, 22 and 35 by March-end. Over 200 vendors sell their wares in the Plaza on weekends.
However, mobile vendors will be allowed to operate in the area. In other parts of the sector, excluding the Plaza that comprises Sector 17-D and E, those selling wares from the corridors or in front of government offices or spaces lying vacant will also be allowed to operate.
Cobblers, who sit in the corridor near Neelam Cinema in the Plaza, will only be allowed to sit in open spaces nearby so that pedestrians do not feel hassled.
The licences to vendors will be issued under the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014, to register and rehabilitate street vendors so that they are not exploited. It also calls for proper rationing of urban streets and spaces.
In other sectors’ markets, vendors will not be allowed in parking lots, but they can function from open spaces nearby till the UT administration issues a notification on the vendors’ Act.
MC additional commissioner Uma Shankar Gupta said, “We’ll issue temporary licences to vendors from March 27. In the first phase, we will issue licences to those operating from Sectors 17, 19, 22 and 35. The MC’s town vending committee has sent a proposal to the UT chief architect for final approval. Till then, we will be issuing them temporary licences.”
To charge ₹1,500, ₹2,000 monthly vending fee
The vendors will have to pay ₹2,000 as monthly vending fee for providing non-essential services whereas those providing essential services such as a tea stall, a barber, a cycle repair shop will have to pay ₹1,500 monthly vending fee.
An agency commissioned by the MC in a survey had identified 21,621 vendors. The MC town vending committee has accepted the survey. The MC had proposed two categories of vendors — service providers and non-service providers. The vending fee as proposed will vary areawise.
Vendors operating in city markets
Sector 17: 1,000
Sector 22: 1,800
Sector 19: 650
Sector 35: 250
Total vendors in city: 21,000