Vendors gone; what about our convenience?

A massive drive is underway in Namma Bengaluru to clear the roads of encroachments including street vendors, pushcarts, petty shops and ad boards among others. Pedestrians and motorists are no doubt a happy lot as the clearance has provided them more space to negotiate congested Bengaluru roads where traveling even a few kilometres would take hours in the peak morning and evening hours. While a good number of vendors have vanished, some have decided to sell their wares at the same spots sansroofs and canopies, while others have found space in adjacent plots.

One can understand their plight for their livelihoods have been demolished after years of fighting to set up biz and paying everyone from civic officials to cops to stay undisturbed at their spots. There is another point which many including civic administrators have been overlooking; it is the question of public convenience. Most middle class citizens and the migrant population in which Bengaluru abounds, found these vendors and stalls pretty convenient to meet their daily needs of essentials.

In almost every one of the 368 wards in the newly created Greater Bengaluru Authority, food stalls used to crop up in the morning and evening hours where people used to crowd to have a snack or dinner, rather than go in search of a restaurant. Everything from vegetables and fruits to dosas and kababs were available at these outlets and had even become the favourite of many Bengalureans. So what’s the way out? There are corner spots and vacant areas, owned by the government and civic agencies across the city and the GBA could put them to good use by identifying those which do not pose a hurdle to pedestrian or vehicular movement.

Vendors and petty shop owners who have been badly hit by the clearance drive, could be asked to register for these sites for a rent so that everything is legal and they are no longer at the mercy of rowdy elements. They should also get an opportunity to sell their wares at weekend markets for which the civic authorities will have to take the initiative by providing space in all zones of the city.

Not everyone would like to run to the mall or super market for their purchases of essentials everyday, primarily because of paucity of time and the need to travel distances after a hard day’s work. Whether they were vegetable and fruit sellers or florists, these poor vendors at each street corner were also doing a service to Bengalureans by providing their needs at the nearest spot at affordable prices. Don’t they deserve a chance to carry on with their livelihood? This is something Bengaluru Development Minister Krishna Byregowda and the GBA will have to ponder over.