MCC expedites search for vending zones across Mysuru

It has already identified seven zones

July 28, 2021 02:04 am | Updated 02:04 am IST - MYSURU

The police have been carrying out a special drive by booking cases against roadside vendors encroaching on footpaths.

The police have been carrying out a special drive by booking cases against roadside vendors encroaching on footpaths.

Amid a sustained crackdown by the traffic police on roadside vendors for impeding free pedestrian movement, the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) has expedited its search for suitable areas for vending zones in the city.

Ever since two pedestrians were injured grievously in a serial mishap on New Sayyaji Rao Road on July 15 after they were forced to walk on the road due to encroachment of footpaths, the police have been carrying out a special drive in all the five traffic police station limits of the city by booking cases against roadside vendors for encroachment of footpaths.

Already, the MCC has identified seven vending zones in different parts of the city in a recent exercise and is awaiting the government’s approval for the Detailed Project Report (DPR) it has sent. “We are yet to begin the development of these vending zones. But it will not be enough. We are in the process of identifying more such vending zones”, said Shashi Kumar, Additional Commissioner of MCC, who has been entrusted with the task of overseeing street vending activities.

The proposed vending zones include Ballal Circle, Vijaynagar High Tension Line Road, in front of St Joseph’s Hospital in Bannimantap ,and near P and T quarters in N.R. Mohalla. Out of the seven proposed vending zones, the traffic police have refused to provide a No Objection Cerificate (NOC) to one that falls in the limits of MCC’s Zone 5, forcing the authorities to look for an alternative site and send another proposal.

The civic body recently held a meeting where the Assistant Commissioners and Development Officers of all the MCC zones in the city have been directed to identify suitable areas for establishing vending zones that conform to the guidelines, he said. The vending zones chosen should not only be free from traffic, but should also not receive any objections from the people residing in the neighbourhood. “Work is under way to identify more such vending zones in the city,” Mr. Kumar added.

Meanwhile, Bhaskar Srinivas Raje Urs, president, Karnataka Street Vendors’ Federation, said the Karnataka Street Vendors’ (Protection of Livelihood, Regulation of Street Vending and Licensing) Scheme 2020 permits street vendors to earn their livelihood without hindering free movement of traffic or pedestrians.

In Mysuru, the MCC has already issued QR code-based identity cards and vending certificates to 1,580 street vendors. Several authorised vendors too have been booked in the drive by the traffic police, he lamented. However, the traffic police officials said they have booked street vendors for encroaching on footpaths and hindering free movement of pedestrians under the provisions of the Karnataka Police Act, 1963.

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