Occupation of roads, vending zones

The roads in Srinagar and elsewhere are shrinking with each passing day as the authorities have failed to remove the illegal encroachers from the roadsides. On a regular basis, the street vendors usually encroach the roads, thus leaving less way for the commuters as well as the pedestrians. The government claimed to have taken a series of steps to ensure that the roads are not occupied by the roadside vendors. In this regard, the government came up with a special market in Srinagar, namely Mecca market where dozens of street vendors were accommodated while smart vending zones were established by the government at Magarmal Bagh here in order to accommodate the number of street vendors. A total of 250 registered street vendors were scheduled to be shifted to the smart vending zone. However, there has been no start to market at the vending zones, leaving the place useless. One fails to understand why the hefty amount has been utilized when the concerned authorities were supposed to delay the process. There are people who question the establishment of the vending zones. It needs to be answered why the place has been kept empty since long and why the street vendors are not being shifted there, which would have lessened the burden on roads and the commuters and the pedestrians could have heaved a sigh of relief. As the government is planning to establish more vending zones here, there is a need to use these places to put an end to the occupation of the roads.