As unexpected its sounds, no street-side shops were seen along Ranchi's main artery Mahatma Gandhi Marg (Main Road) after the stretch was declared no-vending zone from November 5 till November 18.
Ranchi Municipal Corporation and traffic police department cleared shops from pavements on Thursday, on the instructions from Jharkhand High Court to ensure hassle-free traffic along the Main Road till Chhath. Temporary vending zones have been set up for evicted street vendors near Jaipal Singh Stadium and in Zila School premises.
The vending zones, 8x10 meters in size, have been divided in counters with a registration fees to the tune of Rs 100 been charged per counter. On-spot registration counters were set up at both the vending zones where a total of 1,160 vendors turned up to claim the spots.
Meanwhile, the arrangements are not meeting the expectations of the relocated vendors, it would seem. Applicants, though paid the registration fees, but did so with a heavy heart.
"How am I supposed to open shop in a space this smallIJ Also, the vending zones are open plots with no shade; this means we will have to work under the blazing sun, what if rains come," exclaimed Ugan Sahu, who used to run an eatery beside Jaipal Singh Stadium.
"Additionally, no identification is being demanded before allotting counters. As a result, those who have never run a footpath shop in their life are applying for counters," he added.
"A survey of street vendors was conducted back in 2010 where 1,731 street vendors were identified. We had submitted the findings to RMC but they have been neglected. Also, this is just a temporary arrangement, which is in violation of Supreme Court orders and legislations passed by the Parliament," said Kaushal Kishor, president of Jharkhand Shikshit Berozgaar Footpath Dukaandar Mahasangh.
The arrangements are fool-proof, RMC believes. "We have several mechanisms in place to detect any false or bogus registrations. Those getting their names registered are given a receipt which has the counter serial number allotted to them along with their names and businesses. Any deviation from the provided information will result in immediate cancellation of registration," said RMC Assistant Executive Officer Ram Krishna Kumar.
He continued, "Applicants have been advised to take possession of their allotted counters by 5:00pm on Friday, and failing to comply will also lead to their registration being cancelled. We will make sure that the vending zones go to street vendors only."
There also are street vendors who are accepting the change quite enthusiastically. Sujeet Kumar, a street-side bag shop owner from Main Road, said, "If we get adequate facilities here and the customers agree to come too, we have absolutely no problems with shifting here permanently in future."