40 New Sites to Come Up For Street Vendors in Chandigarh

A major announcement of 40 vending sites for around 10, 200 vendors in Chandigarh has brought cheers to the vendors across the city beautiful, but leaving a well-established business and settle it at a new place again from the scratch easy, the prompt answer would be No, isn’t it?

Sectors 17, 19 and 22 that faces a huge problem of vending further affecting the traffic, visitors and the residents in the area, have been declared as no-vending zones. In addition to these sectors, sector 1 to 6, one of the posh localities of the city have also been declared as the ‘No-vending Zone’. Interestingly, these sectors also include famous tourist places — Rock Garden and Sukhna Lake which have been declared no-vending zones with the Municipal Corporation getting approval from the UT Chief Architect for its proposal.

What is ‘No-vending Zone’

Vending is an indispensable part of the places where most of the visitors throng the place for one or the other reasons, wherein most of the places include important public places, tourist spots and famous shopping zones. In the sectors mentioned above, the sectors 17, 19 and 22 are famous for shopping, whereas sector 1-6 inhibits some of the who’s who from Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh itself including industrialists, bureaucrats, celebrities and politicians. These sectors also include the famous tourist destinations Rock Garden and Sukhna Lake that certainly need no preface. ‘No vending Zone’ is a prohibited area for vending, but after the announcement no vendors, including the mobile vendors, will be allowed to vend at these places.

Where will the vendors go?

Earlier, 58 vending zones were marked to rehabilitate the vendors in Chandigarh but as per the meeting held with UT architecture department recently, it was said that in the first phase, 40 sites will come up in sector 36, Chandigarh in which it is proposed that approximately 10, 200 street vendors will be allowed to set up, including approximate 2,570 mobile street vendors.

How many vendors are there in Chandigarh?

As per a survey conducted last year from July to September, the total number of vendors in Chandigarh was around 21, 620 and the Municipal Corporation Chandigarh was to issue licences to the vendors by the end of the financial year ie March 31, 2017.

Why it is necessary to  rehabilitate the vendors? 

Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending, according to the Street Vendor’s Act, 2014, proper rationing of urban streets and places is necessary. The act aims at saving the vendors from any sort of exploitation, including those at the hands of the enforcement officers. It was just two weeks back that both, the Municipal Corporation Chandigarh and the UT architecture department had launched a fresh survey to earmark sites for the vendors in Chandigarh. Though the Municipal Corporation Chandigarh had completed the survey of counting the vendors in the year 2016 but the development came a year after.

Those living in Chandigarh since birth, (Here, we are talking about those born between the late 80’s and early 90’s) even imagining these places without vendors seems unimaginable. It’s time to wait and watch to witness the changed face of these places.

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Munish Dhiman

Being an enthusiast, adventurer, blogger, writer, food lover, creative and multi-talented chap, Munish Dhiman is full of life and is always ready to take on challenges in life. You may reach Munish at hello@chandigarhmetro.com
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