Delay mars rehab of street vendors

Tribune News Service
Patiala, January 15

The Municipal Corporation, Patiala, has not been able to make any headway in the implementation of street vendors’ rehabilitation project, initiated months ago. 

The Municipal Corporation had allotted the work for the preparation of a street vending plan to a private company in July last year. As per the work orders, the company was supposed to identify, register and rehabilitate the vendors within 11 weeks from the beginning the project. The MC had identified 3,163 vendors. 

An official at the MC land branch said, “Yesterday, we took out a drive to remove unauthorised flexes put up at various sites in the city. Today, all street vendors were told to use dustbins in view of the Swachhta Survekshan.

Sources said officials were yet to finalise the sites for street vendors.

Meanwhile, shopkeepers questioned the delay in the implementation of the project. A juice shop owner at the Tripuri market said, “Street vendors encroach up roads as well as pavements. They bribe officials and sell low-quality products at cheaper rates. This effects our business. The MC should implement the project as early as possible.”

An official claimed that the MC had in November increased the time given to the private company to complete the street vending project from three to five months.