18 unauthorised vendors and hawkers, mostly migrants, removed from Shimla Lower Bazaar

Advertisement

Shimla, February 25

About 18 unauthorised street vendors and hawkers — who were conducting business in the Lower Bazaar area of the state capital — were removed by the authorities here on Sunday. Most of these street vendors hailed from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan.

3-hour inspection

• Speaking to The Tribune, Tehbazari Inspector Joyti Prakash said he, along with his team, conducted a nearly three-hour inspection in the market, during which unauthorised street vendors were removed and the products they were selling were confiscated.
• Those who were able to show their licences to the Shimla Municipal Corporation authorities were allowed to continue with their businesses.

A team lead by Tehbazari Inspector Joyti Prakash conducted an inspection in the Lower Bazaar area, during which the street vendors who did not had an official licence were removed from the market, while those who were able to show their cards to the Shimla Municipal Corporation (SMC) authorities were allowed to continue with their respective businesses.

Speaking to The Tribune, Prakash said he, along with his team, conducted a nearly three-hour inspection in the market, during which unauthorised street vendors were removed and the products they were selling were confiscated.

“Many street vendors even tried to flee the market but were caught,” he added.

The unauthorised street vendors lead to unnecessary crowd and congestion in the market due to which it is very difficult for the people to move around the market, he said, adding that, many times, unnecessary delay was caused by these the unauthorised street vendors during emergency situations —such as fire and medical emergencies.

According to Prakash, the street venders would be fined on Monday.

There are around 1,065 authorised street vendors in the area, for whom areas across the town has been allotted.

The SMC is also working to develop an application for the registration of street vendors. The same was mentioned in the budget for the year 2024-25 that was presented by SMC Mayor Surinder Chauhan on February 15.

With this application, all street vendors in Shimla would be registered and convenient identification of unauthorised street vendor would be possible, according to the budget.