In an attempt to do away with unauthorised hawkers in New Delhi area, the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has set up a committee which, in collaboration with Delhi Police, will prepare a list of all the legal hawkers operating in its area.
The committee will also prepare a fresh ‘floor plan’ demarcating specific areas which will be designated only for street vendors. Meanwhile, the civic agency will soon be issuing smart cards, each containing a unique barcode, to legal hawkers.
After years of failed attempts to curb mushrooming of street vendors in its area, the NDMC has now come up with a ‘long-term’ solution to the problem.The agency has decided to prepare a floor plan which will offer places exclusively for teh bazaris.
“My motto is to treat the infection, and not the fever. Once we get the final list of legal hawkers, we will make a map wherein separate places for hawkers will be allotted. This means, new areas will also come up for them. It will be like the hawkers’ streets found in any other developed nation like Singapore or the United States,” said Jalaj Shrivastava, Chairperson, NDMC.
Moreover, he added, the areas will be visibly marked and a post having the number of the allottee will be put up. “The places will have a clear boundary, maybe with a white outline or railings, beyond which they won’t be allowed to put their stalls,” informed Shrivastava.
According to the agency, the list of all legal teh bazari allottees in NDMC area will also be with the police.“In the case of CP, we have a list of 48 allottees, but on the police list, the number is 95. To avoid such discrepancies, it is important that both bodies share common records. It has been very difficult for us to segregate the licenced hawkers from the fake ones, as most of them possess a duplicate copy of the licence,” said an official.
The NDMC claims that smart cards will be issued to the licenced hawkers within two months. Sources in the agency said that the next meeting of the committee will be held on September 9 wherein several modalities will be deliberated upon. While on paper, the civic body has numbered legal street vendors in its area to the tune of 1,126, however, nearly a 1,000 more are operating seamlessly under forged documents.
The New Delhi area currently has five vending zones which include CP, Janpath, Chanakyapuri, Sarojini Nagar and Safdarjung. In CP, the area in front of Palika Bazar, the entire road leading to its parking and beyond is the hub for these hawkers.In CP alone, there are 48 teh bazari allottees. Apart from these, 75 of them are operating with stay orders from the High Court.