Guwahati Municipal Corporation evicts 300 street vendors in city, hawkers’ body cries foul

The Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) on Saturday evicted 300 street vendors from the footpaths of GS Road for allegedly occupying the space without any authorisation. The hawkers had been demanding that the civic body provide them designated vending zones but last week Urban Affairs Minister Ashok Singhal said there is no land to create specific vending zones inside the densely populated city. Kamal Kalita, who used to run a small momo stall near the SBI headquarters and was among the several street vendors who have lost their makeshift shops, said, “I had been unemployed for quite a long time recently my aunt lent me some money to open the shop and I had hoped to earn a living but now I am back to square one.” Kamal said he had moved from his hometown in Nalbari to Guwahati in the hope of bagging some job but even that did not work out. Debajit Senapati, General Secretary of the Assam Street Vendors Association, said the GMC took the step without any planning. “On one hand several of them were recently given vendor identity cards but on the other hand they were evicted,” Senapati said. “Vend

Guwahati Municipal Corporation evicts 300 street vendors in city, hawkers’ body cries foul
The Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) on Saturday evicted 300 street vendors from the footpaths of GS Road for allegedly occupying the space without any authorisation. The hawkers had been demanding that the civic body provide them designated vending zones but last week Urban Affairs Minister Ashok Singhal said there is no land to create specific vending zones inside the densely populated city. Kamal Kalita, who used to run a small momo stall near the SBI headquarters and was among the several street vendors who have lost their makeshift shops, said, “I had been unemployed for quite a long time recently my aunt lent me some money to open the shop and I had hoped to earn a living but now I am back to square one.” Kamal said he had moved from his hometown in Nalbari to Guwahati in the hope of bagging some job but even that did not work out. Debajit Senapati, General Secretary of the Assam Street Vendors Association, said the GMC took the step without any planning. “On one hand several of them were recently given vendor identity cards but on the other hand they were evicted,” Senapati said. “Vend