Popular markets in Lutyens’ Delhi will remain closed for the first half of Tuesday as traders protest against attempts by politicians to stop the ongoing evictions of street vendors.
Connaught Place, Janpath, Palika Bazaar, Sarojini Nagar, Khan Market and other markets under the New Delhi Municipal Council will be affected by the bandh, the Federation of NDMC Markets said on Monday.
The NDMC has removed thousands of hawkers as per orders of the High Court in the past few months. But, everyone from Delhi government Ministers to the NDMC’s own vice-chairperson Karan Singh Tanwar have come out against the drive.
The government wrote to the civic bodies asking them to stop the evictions till Diwali, and Mr. Tanwar has planned a rally on Thursday.
The traders, however, said that the illegal hawkers had become a political issue, forcing them to call the bandh on Tuesday.
“We are protesting against the politicisation of the issue. We had been asking the NDMC to act against illegal vendors for years, but they only started doing so after the court order. And now there is political pressure on officers to stop,” said Atul Bhargava, president of the New Delhi Traders’ Association.
Mr. Bhargava said the traders did not “have anything against” the hawkers, but the unauthorised vendors were part of a mafia. He said the legal vendors should be relocated to a designated site, away from the pavements of NDMC markets. “It is a safety and security issue too. What if there is an emergency in the Metro? Hawkers have taken up all the space near the exit outside Palika Bazaar. How will people move freely,” said Mr. Bhargav.
On Tuesday, the traders will gather at Palika Bazaar and march to the NDMC’s headquarters to hand over a memorandum that says they support the civic body’s efforts.
