When the city clears the streets, where do its vendors go?

The sight of civic machinery moving against street vendors has be come increasingly familiar in Mangaluru. What is less visible is what happens after the stalls disappear: families lose their daily income, customers lose a low-cost market and the city is left with the same unresolved question — where should street vending legally take place? The issue acquired fresh urgency this year as the Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) intensified its drives against roadside and footpath vendors.

At the Sunday Bazaar near Kudmul Ranga Rao Town Hall, vendors pro tested an eviction at tempt in June, with some sitting in front of civic ve- hicles. A subsequent drive saw nine persons taken into custody after tensions escalated. The corporation has maintained that the operations are aimed at clearing unauthorised vending and restoring pedestrian access. The Town Hall area, State Bank and stretches around Rao & Rao Circle have witnessed such action.

In another drive, stalls belonging to two disabled vendors near the Deputy Commissioner’s office were demolished, according to vendor representatives. There is little argument that pedestrians need unobstructed footpaths. Vendors cannot simply occupy public space in definitely, particularly where vending affects traffic, sanitation or public safety. But the larger question is whether eviction alone amounts to ur ban planning.

A veteran civic planner on conditions of anonymity told News Trail that “All most all cities have their street vending system, there cannot be society with out informal market, the opera house market in central Mumbai (Girgaum), Sandhurust Road, Koliwad and many suburban areas there, Bud hwarpet in Pune, Avenue road all the way upto KR Market in Bengaluru, Clock tower and Gandhi Square in Mysore, Chappan street in Indore, Chandni Chowk, Pahar Ganj and Karol Bagh in Delhi and many more place have their in formal market, there are large areas that turn into weekly market once in a week and the footfalls are astonishing, why should not it survive in Mangaluru?” he questions.

BK Imtiyaz a top functionary of the left party ecosystem in the city says “there is no option for the functionaries and consumers of the informal market, the things are cheaper for the consumers and inexpensive and informal vending places for the vendors makes it worthwhile for the com mon people, however regulation can be done without snatching the livelihood of the vendors”. India’s Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014, envis ages surveys of vendors, vending certificates, designated vending areas, relocation provisions and Town Vending Committees. It also specifically deals with relocation and eviction.

That distinction is important. A street vendor is not merely an “encroacher”; vending is a legally recognised form of livelihood subject to regulation. In Mangaluru, the Sunday Bazaar illustrates the dilemma. Vendors say it has served the public for decades, offering vegeta bles, fruits, food and other goods at prices that many working-class and lower middle-class families can afford. The market also draws traders from outside the city and func- tions as part of the informal urban economy.

The answer, therefore, may lie between two extremes — unrestricted vending and indiscriminate eviction. Dedicated hawking zones, properly designed weekly markets, licensing, waste-management facilities, water supply and clear pedestrian corridors could provide a workable compromise. The Aam Aadmi Party has recently urged MCC to identify hawker zones and streamline licensing, arguing that the statutory framework has not been adequately implemented. MCC too appears to be considering a regulated approach.

Its commissioner recently inspected vending zones and indicated that the Sunday Bazaar could potentially be permitted subject to conditions. That may be the way forward. Cities cannot wish street vendors away. Nor can vendors claim every public space as a permanent marketplace. The real test of urban governance is whether Mangaluru can create a system in which the pedestrian gets the footpath, the city gets order and the vendor gets a lawful place to earn a living.