Town Vending Committee to be formed within a week, after which a Street Vendors Policy will be formulated.
The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) is likely to implement Street Vendors Policy very soon. However, before that, the civic body might set up Town Vending Committee, which is an important step towards implementation of the policy, within a week.
The committee will consist of 28 members and will be chaired by the municipal commissioner. It will include around 21 members from various vendors' associations, trade unions and traders union. "Implementation of Street Vendors Policy, formed in 2010, will start with formation of the committee, which will take a call on where to allow street vendors to run their business," said an AMC official.
Under this policy, three zones - green, amber and red - have been created. Green zone would be areas where licensed hawkers and vendors can move freely within the permitted area. Red zone would be busy areas or roads, such as BRTS corridor, where vendors often add to chaos in the restricted space. Amber zone would be areas where vendors would be allowed to do business for a fixed couple of hours.
The Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology (Cept) university had carried out a survey of street vendors in the city. According to the survey results, there is a provision for around 80,000 vendors at designated places in Ahmedabad.
It is believed that the formation of Town Vending Committee has been delayed for political reason as the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wanted its own people in the committee.
The committee will be responsible for inclusion of various roads in respective vending zones. It will also carry out survey of vendors and take a call on issuing licences. It will act as a mediator in case of clashes between vendors and authority and will take care of welfare of vendors. The civic body will shift the vendors in red zones to some nearby location.
The model roads as well as 100-feet-wide roads are likely to be included in the red zone. However, the authorities feel that AMC will face problems in shifting the street vendors from one place to another.
"Of the total 400 vendors, only 200 can be accommodated in amber zone. The selection will be difficult," said an official. Moreover, once the vendors are shifted to other location, there is no guarantee that un-surveyed or unauthorised vendors will not start encroachment. "This is where monitoring from estate department and police will play an important role for successful implementation of the policy," said the official.
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