Thaindian News

New Delhi, Aug 10 (IANS) Street vendors in the national capital Tuesday threatened to protest against an eviction drive launched by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and other civic agencies ahead of the Commonwealth Games.
The agitated vendors demanded that the civic agencies should stop the drive as soon as possible.

Calling it a drive aimed at promoting hygiene, the MCD cracked down on street vendors selling food items near the Games venues and other market areas.

“Over 7,000 street vendors and hawkers will gather near Jawaharlal Nehru stadium and stage a protest by the second week of August, if the MCD continues with its eviction drive. The agency should stop harassing the vendors,” Arbind Singh, programme co-ordinator of the National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI), told IANS.

NASVI, an association which has over 300,000 members in 20 states across the country, accused MCD of not taking effective steps for formulating and implementing a proper policy for urban street hawkers.

“In spite of our taking up this issue with Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, the eviction drive has continued,” Singh said.

“On July 28, we met the chief minister and requested her to integrate street vendors, particularly food vendors, into efforts for successful hosting of the Games. She was open to this idea of providing space to street vendors and she asked us to submit a formal request.”

A list of seven areas where vendors can set up their food stalls has been forwarded to the chief minister for approval, Singh said.

“Despite this, the MCD, the NDMC (New Delhi Municipal Council) and police are confiscating their product, taking away their push carts and imposing heavy fine on them,” he said.

“Eviction of vendors in the name of the Games and calling their work unhygienic is not fair. Why are they snatching the livelihood of thousands of vendors citing Games as a reason,” a NASVI member asked.

MCD spokesperson Deep Mathur told IANS: “Food vendors on Delhi’s roadsides are being evicted by MCD’s zonal public health department as they are unhygienic. Apart from this, illegal vendors on streets are being evicted as part of an anti-encroachment drive.”

He also said the drive will be intensified in coming days as the Games draw closer. In particular, vendors selling food items near Games venues and important markets will be evicted.