Illegal fruit, veggie markets mushroom in Mohali

Sanjay Bumbroo

Tribune News Service

Mohali, July 12

Illegal fruit and vegetable markets are mushrooming in Mohali in the absence of any vending policy due to which the number of street vendors in the district has increased manifolds.

One such site is in Phase XI where a park in front of the HIG houses has been converted into an illegal fruit and vegetable market, causing resentment among the residents of the locality.

Councillor Sukhdev Singh Patwari said the Municipal Corporation (MC) had announced to implement the Street Vendors Act and organise street vendors, but till date, they had not been able to implement the policy.

He said this had resulted in the increase in the number of street vendors. One could find vendors stationed on roads outside houses.

MC Commissioner Kamal Kumar Garg said, “Some sites were identified by the MC and the list was sent to the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) for approval. They are somehow not satisfied with the proposed sites and a fresh joint survey is already underway to identify new sites so that the same can be allotted to vendors.”

The MC had issued identity cards to 200 of the 973 vendors, but they are yet to be given a designated place to carry out their trade. During the survey, the MC had earmarked around 15 sites in Phase X, XI, VII, 3B1 and 3B2, but GMADA has turned down its proposal, terming it unlawful as per the land-use policy. This will further delay the process of rehabilitation of street vendors in Mohali.

The land where the MC wants to allot sites to vendors under the Street Vendor Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vendor Act, 2014, belongs to GMADA and the MC can use it only after the consent of the authority.

A senior officer in the town planning section of GMADA said the MC list did not fulfil the legal aspects and were unlawful as per the land use policy. The officer said vending sites in parking zones was not lawful as the place was for public parking as per the master plan of Mohali. If such a site was allotted to a vendor, it might be challenged in the court by the public, the officer added.

In January 2018, the MC had decided to issue licence to 973 vendors registered under the Street Vendor Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vendor Act, 2014. The MC had divided Mohali into four zones to relocate vendors. The civic body had hired a private company to carry out the survey and 2,295 sites were identified. But the MC House found anomalies in it and ordered a fresh survey, following which 973 moving and stationary sites were earmarked in 2017.

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