Guwahati’s endless encroachment-eviction loop

The eviction drive carried out by the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) at the Khanapara and Bhangagarh areas to remove encroachments that were obstructing traffic flow and endangering  pedestrians is laudable, but past experiences show that the efforts will remain cosmetic unless they are followed up with a system of constant monitoring and strict action against re-encroachment. The GMC’s failure to establish dedicated vending zones for street vendors mirrors a deeper structural weakness in city governance. GMC authorities have persistently failed to address this issue, which is the root cause of chaos on Guwahati roads, leaving pedestrians and street vendors trapped in a vicious cycle of encroachments and evictions. It is baffling that even after two years of approval of 81 vending zones, the allotment process has not been completed, allowing street vendors to occupy pavements and roadside areas for their business. Street vending is an integral part of the city’s economic activities, as vendors bring items to cater to the demand of the residents. In the absence of a dedicated vending zone, the vendors encroach on the pavements and roadside areas, compelling pedestrians to walk along the carriageway. The parking of vehicles by people who visit the roadside market to buy goods from street vendors further reduces the carriageway, resulting in slow movement and traffic chaos. While this chaos unfolds every day along all roads where unofficial vending zones function unhindered, sporadic eviction drives cannot be a permanent solution to the worsening problem. Ironically, city residents have repeatedly pleaded for the shifting of vendors to dedicated vending zones, but their requests have fallen on deaf ears, and no immediate end to the chaos is in sight. The national policy on urban street vendors envisages providing and promoting a supportive environment for earning livelihoods for the street vendors, as well as ensuring the absence of congestion and the maintenance of hygiene in public spaces and streets. The policy also seeks to give vendors legal status by amending, enacting, repealing and implementing appropriate laws and providing legitimate hawking zones in urban development/zoning plans. It also underscores the need for regulation of street vending by way of designated ‘Restriction-free Vending’, ‘Restricted Vending’ and ‘No Vending’ zones. The policy recognises that street vendors provide valuable services to the urban masses while eking out a living through their own enterprise, limited resources and labour. They facilitate convenient, efficient and cost-effective distribution of goods and services to the public. They also contribute significantly to local economic growth and vitality of the urban economies and constitute an integral and legitimate part of the urban retail trade and distribution system for daily necessities of the general public, the policy adds. The national policy also prescribes solutions to address the problem of shortage of space for dedicated vending zones to accommodate the increasing number of vendors in the city. It emphasises developing vendor markets/outlets in which space could be made available to hawkers/vendors on a time-sharing model on the basis of a roster. A simple process of mathematical analysis, a certain number of days or hours on particular days could be fixed for each vendor in a vending place on a roster basis through the concerned Town Vending Committee (TVC) to address the problem of shortage of required space for vending without obstructing traffic flow and pedestrian movement. The policy places the onus on TVCs for protecting the livelihoods of street vendors and, at the same time, imposing reasonable restrictions, if necessary, for ensuring the flow of traffic and for addressing concerns relating to public health and hygiene in the public interest. Unfortunately, there is a complete lack of transparency in decisions taken by TVC for the city, as residents have been kept in the dark about the delay in shifting vendors from unauthorised vending zones to notified and approved vending zones. Sadly, the elected representatives of different GMC wards in which encroachment of pavements and roadsides by street vendors is rampant have also failed to play their part for a permanent solution to the problem. This situation calls for GMC authorities to inform the city residents about the measures initiated for making the notified vending zones and prominently mark the no-vending zones so that citizens can also bring to the notice of the authorities whenever they come across any vending activities in such areas where vending is prohibited. As the city is rapidly growing and its population has already surpassed the million-plus mark, the number of vehicles on the streets has increased manifold, which demands obstruction-free movement of vehicles to reduce traffic congestion. Any further delay in making the notified vending zones functional will only contribute to the unplanned growth of the city and make it unsustainable. The sooner the GMC authorities acknowledge this harsh reality, the better it will be for Guwahati. The Gateway to the Northeast must be pulled out of its endless encroachment-eviction loop.