Another survey by the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) to identify street vendors, mainly those street food operators who had not been covered in the first survey, is likely to be conducted soon.
During the survey conducted two years ago, as part of National Urban Livelihood Mission (NULM), 1,149 street food vendors were identified and the process of issuing identity cards to them is under way. As many as 25 street food vending zones had been identified. The vendors identified in the first survey will be rehabilitated in a systematic manner. Each will be allotted space in the respective zones as per the allocated numbers.
Speaking to The Hindu, G Jagadeesha, Commissioner, MCC, said many street vendors could not be covered in the first survey owing to various reasons. “Our idea is to rehabilitate all the vendors in designated zones and free the city spaces from unauthorised vending. At the same time, we have kept in mind the needs of the public and located food vending zones not too far from localities,” he said.
Mysuru has slipped in the Swachh Bharat rankings, announced recently, despite being the country’s top cleanest city for two years in a row. This year, it stood at the 5th place. The MCC was looking at implementing proposals that are crucial to maintaining the city’s cleanliness.
As part of its resolve to make the city cleaner and ensure that its splendour remains intact, the MCC had identified 25 vending zones across the city. Infrastructure development had been planned at these places under the NULM. However, no headway had been made in these places even two years later. When asked, the commissioner said, “The tenders had been cleared and the work will start soon at the five places.”
Also, the MCC’s plan of developing Swachh Street Food, a concept-driven initiative, after its crackdown on roadside eateries at many places has not taken off. The Swachh Street Food model had been planned with the help of public health specialist and scholar Indira Chakravarthy, who developed the renowned Calcutta Model on Street Foods which received the Eduardo Sauma Award from the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations.
