The ongoing drive by the Mysore City Corporation (MCC) to evict street vendors from the core areas of the city has evoked condemnation from the hawkers’ union, who have sought an early rehabilitation package.
They have also urged the MCC to call off the eviction drive as it has affected hundreds of families dependent on hawking for sustenance.
The MCC launched an eviction drive clearing fast food stalls in different parts of the city on the grounds of impeding pedestrian movement and degrading the environment.
There were complaints against street food vendors of comprising hygiene and the MCC Health Officer averred that it could lead to outbreak of diseases in the run-up to the monsoon.
Though MCC Commissioner C.G. Betsurmath promised to identify hawkers zone in the city, the association of hawkers has flayed the delay. “It has been years since the MCC promised to identify hawkers’ zones in 34 different areas of the city,” said association president Dodmane Manjunath.
Nearly 5,000 fast food vendors operate in the city, besides hawkers dealing with other products but in the absence of a notified hawkers zone they have proliferated across the city. The local NGOs, while supporting the MCC action on the grounds that the hawkers were over running the city footpaths, have also sought the notification of hawkers’ zone to enable the street vendors to transact their business without fear of eviction.
In the meantime, the street vendors’ association has threatened to launch an agitation in case the MCC did not stop its eviction drive immediately.
For years, the MCC has promised to identify hawkers’ zones in city: association president
