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Speak up | Illegal encroachment of roads by vendors: Is there a solution?

Government and civic bodies pass the buck to each other regarding removal of the squatters

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Vendors at Lajpat Nagar central market on Friday
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Illegal encroachment of roads by vendors and traders has become a major issue for commuters across the national capital. Both government and civic bodies keep passing the responsibility to remove these encroachments onto each other.

Following the complaint of traffic congestion due to hawkers and vendors occupying the roads, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal last week asked the Chief Secretary MM Kutti to prepare a list of major traffic "bottlenecks" and find a solution to clear the issue.

There has been a rampant increase in the number of illegal hawkers across several markets in Delhi. They have encroached upon pavements and footpaths leaving no space for parking for the commuters.

Delhi Lt Governor Anil Baijal had also recently directed the authorities to remove encroachments from 29 major roads including ITO, Kalindi Kunj, Vikas Marg and MB road. These areas have been illegally occupied by parking mafias. Encroachment on these roads lead to heavy traffic congestion in the mornings and evening peak hours.

Besides, all three civic bodies keep launching crackdowns on these illegal encroachments regularly. On Thursday, in a special drive, North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) removed as many as 32 illegal encroachments at Mubarka Chowk, which is the major point from where inter state buses exit.

...& ANALYSIS

  • Many governments have promised to provide separate space for street vendors and hawkers to avoid illegal encroachments of roads and pavements but nothing has been done so far.
     
  • Kejriwal-led AAP government in Delhi also promised to pass separate laws for street vendors and hawkers but everything is on paper as of now. And, every anti-encroachment drive lead to agitation among these vendors and hawkers association and they launch protests regularly.
     
  • Government should provide separate spaces to them in order to have encroachment free pavements and roads in Delhi which ultimately will lead to congestion and traffic free roads.

VOICES:

Vendors have extended their shops to the road limits, causing narrow gauge roads. It becomes very difficult for commuters, specially during the peak hours when students come for coaching.
Krishan Singh, Lajpat Nagar

It is a problem as the road is narrow. There are higher chances of accidents. Also, Karol Bagh is filled with too many shops which leads to more heat in the temperature.
Angmo, Sarojini Nagar

The roads are always blocked and the market is always crowded. Also, the metro station is near the market road which is always blocked by vehicles and people.
Simran Bohla, Karol Bagh

The encroachment in the market area causes traffic every day. But this market is the source of income to these vendors. Being stuck in traffic for a while is better than seeing more unemployed youth.
Sneha Chauhan, Lajpat Nagar

For traveling purposes its really difficult as you can't bring your car in this area. The roads are always jammed with crowd and vehicles.
Deepika, Karol Bagh

These encroachments are very irritating. It makes it impossible for people to walk about as they cover half of the roads. Moreover, they keep asking us again and again to buy their wares even when we tell them we are not interested.
Yuvakshi Bharadwaj, Sarojini Nagar

EXPERTS:

The vendors just have to pay a couple of bucks to the police or municipality staff. It's very natural they will occupy the place as there are no rules and regulations. But people at large are also silent. There is no forum to deal with this issue. There is actually a chain of money flow. Countries like Australia and some European countries have legalised areas for their hawkers. Similarly, we also need proper guidelines and rules to accommodate hawkers. We can't deny their rights as they are also an integral part of the society.
PK Sarkar, head, Transport Planning, School of Planning and Architecture

Hawkers do not have proper space for their shops. No adequate spaces have been allocated to them. But whatever may be the reason, we cannot allow any encroachment. The only solution for issues like this is that they must be provided with some space, allotted by the vending committee of the Delhi government. We request the government to give us the authority to process the steps for allotment of proper space to the vendors.
Kamaljeet Sehrawat, Mayor, East Delhi

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