Vendors throng historic Ram Bagh as municipal corporation looks other way

Charanjit Singh Teja
Tribune News Service
Amritsar, August 4
Officials of the municipal corporation often claim to have made the historic Ram Bagh encroachment free. Contrary to their claims, many illegal vendors, including fruit sellers and those selling other eatables, are doing brisk business at the historic place while defying the norms of Archaeological Survey of India for the protected monuments.
During the SAD-BJP regime, an illegal Verka booth was set up at the bagh by the then Local Bodies Minister Anil Joshi. Later, former mayors and councillors during the Congress rule in the border state encouraged encroachers which led to the rise in the number of illegal vendors at the bagh. Under the political pressure, officials of the civic body have failed to remove vendors from the bagh.

In the absence of any check, vendors sell sprouts, fruits, lemon juice, sardai and eatables on bicycle mounted carts in the garden without any fear of the law. Vendors have got a shot in the arm as with the help of few daily visitors in the garden, they have got organised. They oppose the move of MC officials whenever the latter ask them to leave the garden. Vendors claimed that they had been earning their livelihood in the garden for the past several years and the MC had no right to stop them from doing so.
Local activists claimed that waste generated by these vendors attracted rodents and affected the environment and the monument in the bagh. As per the law, all commercial activities are banned by the MC in the historic garden.
On December 4, 2018, the MC and the Archaeological Survey of India had submitted an agreement with the Punjab and Haryana High Court (HC) regarding the custodianship and upkeep of the Ram Bagh. As per terms, the MC had assured in the agreement that all encroachments, including vends, offices, residential accommodations and other private enclosures would be removed from the bagh. During the past six years, the number of food, juice and other stalls had increased in the bagh.
MC Commissioner Harpreet Singh said, “We have stopped several illegal activities in the garden in the past. Some vendors have been removed. The remaining would also be removed from the bagh soon.”