Vendors condemn Zila Parishad for stopping them from stationing carts near Clock Tower in Ludhiana

Ludhiana, December 1

Slamming the Zila Parishad authorities for stopping them from stationing their carts at a site adjoining Guru Teg Bahadur Market near Clock Tower here, street vendors associated with the Rehri Phari Union, Punjab, staged a protest on Wednesday.

Vendors’ union president Bal Krishan Pappi said on one hand CM Charanjit Singh Channi was making announcements that vendors should not be harassed but the Zila Parishad authorities were not allowing them to station their carts there.

He said an attempt was made to construct a wall on the site this morning due to which they protested. The vendors had been stationing carts there to meet their daily needs for over two decades. They demanded that the land site should be declared a vending zone.

He said the vendors had also been paying fees to the MC, Ludhiana, for stationing their carts at the site. “We have learned that the authorities have given this land to somebody at low prices. The matter should be probed by the government and action should be taken against erring officials who caused financial losses to the state exchequer,” he said.

An official of Zila Parishad, Sikandar Singh, denied the allegations and said the wall was being constructed by the parishad. Yadwinder Singh Jandiali, Chairman of the parishad, said the property belongs to the parishad and the vendors had encroached upon the land. He said the land had been given on lease through auction to a private firm for doing some hosiery- related business. — TNS