The Chennai Corporation published a list of street vendors as encroachments remain an issue.
What’s it about? The Chennai Corporation released a list of over 35,000 street vendors as an official associated with the survey went from street to street to do a head count. It’s a constant and long-standing struggle between having pavements safe for pedestrians and the livelihoods of street vendors.
- In St Mary’s Road, for example, vendors have blocked the pavement, and cars are parked beside it. Pedestrians have no option but to walk on the road. At T Nagar’s pedestrian plaza, 20 shops have come up.
- Per the list published, Royapuram has the highest number of vendors, with over 7,800, followed by Kodambakkam with 5,704, and Teynampet with 4,309.
Legislation: The Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014, focuses on their livelihoods. It states they have to be renumerated every five years. Tamil Nadu has a scheme for street vendors, similar to the 2014 Act.
(Image credits: KolathurCitizen’s Twitter post)