We have not earned a single penny from last nine days’
Srinagar: Hundreds of street vendors who have been disallowed by the administration to set up carts along the roadsides and footpaths today held massive demonstrations here at Press Enclave.
Demanding suitable rehabilitation, they said they have not earned a single penny from last nine days since the police cracked down on them. We are surprised at the move as we are all registered street vendors,” they said.
Appealing Chief Minster Mehbooba Mufti to intervene in the matter, they said most of them are sole bread earners of their families and if it continued they will be forced into illegal activities to earn livelihood.
“We fully support authorities to ensure hassle free and smooth movement of traffic on roads. But our demand is that we should be provided with a suitable alternate place to earn our livelihood,” said Shabir Ahmad, a vendor.
They said sites proposed by the authorities are not suitable to rehabilitate them.
It may be noted that authorities have proposed that street vendors of Lal Chowk would be rehabilitated at SRTC Yard, Batamaloo street vendors at Sector 7 Batamaloo and Farmyard and the street vendors of LD will be adjusted at Malasia.
There are 2910 vendors present in and around the commercial hub Lal Chowk which includes Polo View, Hari Singh High Street, Batamaloo, Karan Nagar, Jehangir Chowk, Partap Park, Dalgate, Naz Crossing Market, Mahraja Bazar and Goni Khan Chowk.
“These locations are not suitable for us. The places proposed are in isolation, public don’t visit these places. We will be rendered jobless if forced us to do our business at these places,” they said.
“Supreme Court Order dated September 9, 2013, states that any action on street vendors should be taken only by a committee that has been set up with 40 per cent representation from street vendors along with municipal authorities and police. In our case, the law of the land was not followed,” they claimed.
“The police are not only levying a fine, but also seizing our merchandise. Apart from affecting our livelihood, the action makes us to run into heavy debts,” they said.
