Panchkula MC snatched our livelihood: Vendors

Tribune News Service
Panchkula, January 2

Street vendors are up in arms against the Panchkula Municipal Corporation and the Haryana Shehari Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) for their anti-encroachment drive. Their protest entered the fourth day on Thursday.

Amarnath Verma, general secretary of the Footpath Workers Swarojgar Bachao Sangharsh Samiti, said, “With each passing day, we are trying to build pressure on the Panchkula administartion. Farmers in Barwala have also been affected as vendors buy fruits and vegetables from them. We have asked the Kisan Sabha members to support us.”

“MLA Gian Chand Gupta does not care about the poor. Our means of livelihood have been snatched. Nobody from the MC has come forward to talk to us,” he said.

The protesting vendors have been urging the civic body that they should not be evicted from their respected sites before finalisation of the vending zones in the city.

The vendors also demand reinstatement of the Town Vending Committee and proper implementation of the Street Vendors Act 2014.

The enforcement wing of the civic body and the HSVP had started anti-encroachment drive in November against the street vendors.