Police retract move to remove vendors

Sandeep Rana

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 20 

In a vague move, UT SSP (Traffic & Security) Shashank Anand today got registered vendors removed from a backlane of shops in Sector 22, but failed to remove others sitting in parking lots and pathways. 

After the issue was raised, the police later retracted and returned seized goods to about 150 vendors. Some of them were challaned too. 

Most of these vendors, who had been paying a monthly licence fee to the Municipal Corporation (MC), rued that they were being removed selectively and others, who were not even registered, were still sitting in markets and other places.

In a letter to the MC, SSP Shashank Anand had asked the authorities to remove encroachment from pathways, cycle tracks and parkings. Following this, a police team assisted by officials of the MC removed vendors from the backlane of Kiran Theatre in Sector 22. 

There were a number of vendors in parking lots and other pathways near the lane, but they were not removed. A police party tried to remove women vendors from one place, but did not go ahead with the drive seeing their resistance. 

Amolak Singh, who claims to be carrying out his vending business from Sector 22 for the past 20 to 25 years, said goods of around 150 vendors were taken away by the team.

Vendors said their earning was hit as they could not operate from 11 am to 6 pm. The City Congress chief, Pradeep Chhabra, reached the venue and raised the issue. He said it was wrong on part of the police to remove vendors and unacceptable. 

A senior Municipal Corporation official said it was the order of the SSP (Traffic & Security) and not the MC as most vendors were registered under the Street Vendors Act. 

The Station House Officer of the Sector 17 police station, Maninder Singh, said they acted on the call of seniors and could not comment on the issue. Meanwhile, the SSP (Traffic & Security) remained incommunicado and did answer phone call and messages sent to him.

Vendors’ Act yet to implemented

It has been more than two years since the MC completed a survey to identify and rehabilitate street vendors, but the Street Vendors Act still remains on papers. Around 10,000 registered vendors pay Rs 30 lakh per month to the MC, but they have not been allotted any designated space to operate from. Registered vendors feel there is no difference between them and those who are unregistered. They started paying the MC from January onwards, but in vain. The civic body could not start the process of allotting space to vendors as per the provisions of the Act. Sector 17, which is a no-vending zone, is  vendors’ paradise likewise Sector 19 and 22 are full of illegal vendors.