Hyderabad: GHMC officials from the Malakpet circle under Charminar zone dismantled sheds and stalls that were illegally erected by street vendors and absentee street vendors on the service road from Moosarambagh to Dilsukhnagar.
Surprisingly, there was no resistance or any unruly scenes. Most of the street vendors had not yet reached their work place by around 8 am, when the dismantling started. It was not just a demolition drive, but also a clean-up drive on the occasion of GHMC Commissioner K Amarapali’s visit to the area.
According to Govinda Reddy, GHMC supervisor, there was no attempt to affect the livelihoods of the street vendors in the stretch, as he claimed that it was GHMC’s last resort to put the things in order.
According to Reddy, GHMC had given several notices to the street vendors, asking them not to erect any illegal sheds on top of their food and beverage outlets, as they were accumulating leaves and dust falling from the trees and vehicular traffic on Dilsukhnagar main road.
“We had served them notices in the past and had fined them, but every time they have been paying Rs 500 fine, and then again dumping their garbage at open spots while going home. They are supposed to have two dust bins (green and red) given by us to separate dry and wet garbage. They have not been handing the garbage to the GHMC autos despite repeated requests,” Reddy told Siasat.com.
He said that most of the street vendors had the street vendor identification card, through which they could even seek loans up to Rs 10,000. He, however, cautioned that these vendors had no right to build illegal sheds at their outlets.
He told this reporter that the vendors could purchase huge umbrellas that were readily available in the market do their business and leave the place along with those umbrellas, without leaving any scope for garbage accumulation.
Srinivas, one of the GHMC workers involved in the drive, told Siasat.com that there were also those people who were collecting up to Rs 500 illegally from the street vendors by renting the areas to them, which was downright illegal.
“Because this comes under the VIP zone, we have been given instructions to ensure that the entire area remains clean and green. If we need to bring investments to Hyderabad, we have to ensure this zone is free from garbage. The zonal commissioner has proposed to introduce Rs 5 per meal scheme throughout the day in this area by serving breakfast, lunch and dinner here,” Reddy told Siasat.com, showing truck-loads of garbage that was being lifted from the stretch.
Srinivas, another official from GHMC, showed how the absentee vendors who were busy during the summer, had left their carts and illegal sheds, that were accumulating enough garbage underneath the base of their stalls during the rains. Due to this, he claimed that seasonal illnesses like dengue and malaria were becoming prevalent, hospitalising the people who were venturing there and consuming the food in those outlets.
Padma, a woman who runs a pan shop in the vicinity was lucky enough to be on time to reach her work place before the dismantling could happen. She told Siasat.com that even in the past such an attempt was made by GHMC officials, but after a dharna, they were allowed to continue their operations.
Most of the street vendors said that they would comply with the sanitary regulations of GHMC while doing the business here on. GHMC officials also informed Siasat.com that the zonal commissioner had designated some of this area for serving Rs 5 meal, from breakfast, lunch, till dinner.
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