Raja Syed Rather
Srinagar, Jun 6: Over a year has elapsed since the Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha inaugurated Rs 4 crore worth Smart Vendor Hawker Zone project at Jehangir Chowk to provide space to 250 Vendors; the authorities have failed to shift the street vendors to the place.
The commuters have been facing tremendous hardships as the street vendors here continue to occupy the roadsides by erecting their carts.
The pedestrians are being forced to walk in the middle of the road as the street vendors continue to occupy footpaths as well as the roadsides, the locals said, adding that the government has miserably failed to ensure smooth passage to the commuters as well as the pedestrians.
Locals said that the action against the street vendors doesn’t last for more than two days as the concerned officials don’t bother to curb the road occupation by these vendors, thus leaving the people to lurch at large.
However, the locals here have questioned the government’s move of establishing a vending zone at Magarmal Bagh here, saying that “one fails to understand why the government has not shifted the street vendors to place, which could have reduced the occupation of the roadsides,” the locals said.
Deputy Mayor, Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC), Parvez Qadri when contacted, admitted the failure of authorities in shifting the vendors to the vending zone.
“The vending zone was established under smart city project, but it unfortunate that the authorities have failed to shift the vendors to the place,” he said
However, he said no other place has been identified so far for the establishing of vending zones.
