Vending zone committee is barely working: Panel members

The meeting of a town vending committee to oversee the marking of hawking zones in central Mumbai went for a toss on Tuesday as the required number of members did not show up. In the absence of the quorum, which is 14 of the 20 committee members, the meeting of TVC Zone II had to be called off.

On the agenda for Tuesday's meeting was short-listing of roads in F-South, F-North, G-South and G-North civic wards that could house hawkers.

Panel members say some of their colleagues haven't shown up for a single meeting so far. Member Nikhil Desai said that bank members did not turn up in any of the past meetings. Traffic deputy commissioner of police Ashok Dudhe has also not attended a single meeting. And now he has been transferred to Navi Mumbai, his name still features among TVC Zone II members, he said.

Desai said the with the civic body's slothful pace, it did not seem like hawking pitches would be finalised by end of this year, as promised.

As per the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014, setting up TVCs is mandatory to decide on hawking pitches. The BMC formed it after a delay of three and a half years.