Street vendors in Bengaluru call for protest, bandh on Jul 8 over footpath eviction drive

Bengaluru, Jul 7 (PTI) The street vendors’ associations have called for a massive protest and total shutdown of their activities in Bengaluru on Wednesday against the ongoing eviction drive being carried out in the guise of footpath clearance in the city. The associations have accused the state government of "violating" the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014. "On July 8, we have called for a massive protest, there will be a bandh... Street vending in all the city's major markets will cease. We appeal to street vendors who are not part of any association to join us," Advocate and activist associated with street vendors, Vinay Srinivasa said. Speaking to reporters here, he said this fight is just the beginning. "If the government fails to respond, there will be a call for a statewide protest." "A minimum of five to six thousand people are likely to gather for the protest on June 8 (at Freedom Park in Bengaluru)," he added. As part of the Greater Bengaluru Authority's (GBA) 'Safe Footpath' campaign that began on July 1, officials are conducting a drive to clear encroachments aimed at improving pedestrian infrastructure across the city. The drive is spearheaded by Greater Bengaluru Development Minister Krishna Byre Gowda. The minister had recently said that the campaign presently covers only around 20 per cent of Bengaluru's arterial and sub-arterial road network, where pedestrian movement is the highest, while commercial activity and street vending can continue on the remaining roads in accordance with the law. Emphasising that pedestrian safety remains the government's foremost priority, he noted that hundreds of pedestrians lose their lives in road accidents every year after being forced onto carriageways because footpaths are blocked or unusable. The Minister also pointed out that the initiative is being implemented in accordance with the directions of the Supreme Court. Gowda had also clarified that street vendors within the GBA limits will not be evicted, but are instead being relocated from arterial and sub-arterial roads to ward roads. Responding to a question, Srinivasa said that by law, only the Town Vending Committee has the right to declare no-vending zones and vendors must be rehabilitated before that declaration. However, this rule has not been followed here. The administration's directive to move to side roads has been criticised as impractical. "Which side road? What to do if the foot paths there are small? So this is an anti-poor policy of this government," he argued. Noting that vendors are in favour of keeping the city clean, and blame the administration for not resolving the garbage issue in the city, the activist said, "We are demanding an opportunity for street vendors to operate on the streets where car parking is allowed. Give us 3ft on an 8ft footpath, we don't want share on 4ft pathways. We are asking for one-third space on big pavements." Urging authorities to view street vendors also as part of Bengaluru, he said, "Street vendors are not encroachers, the Street Vendors Act itself clearly states that they can conduct their business on footpaths. If any street vendors have done wrong, there is a Town Vending Committee to lodge complaints and address the issue and take action." The "confusion and anarchy" on the street vendors issue stems from the administration's failure to issue identity cards to all vendors and conduct proper survey, he said, adding that "You give place on streets for the rich to park their cars but evict poor street vendors. If not on the streets where should street vendors go?" PTI KSU ROH