The Shillong Municipal Board (SMB) has decided to prohibit display of goods by hawkers on roadsides and footpaths all along GS Road through Motphran and Jeep Stand upto Garikhana junction (near the District Council office) and has begun publicizing the same at the moment.
“We are giving publicity to it now and in the next meeting a decision regarding the implementation would be taken,” Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Shillong Municipal Board (SMB), told The Shillong Times, while adding that the meeting will take place next week.
Informing that there is no timeframe for this publicity, the CEO said that the prohibition would be in place very soon.
It may be mentioned that the SMB had, recently, issued a notice about the decision to prohibit display of goods by hawkers on the roadside and footpaths all along the GS Road up to the District Council junction at Garikhana.
Hawkers operating in these areas have, however, expressed concern over this purported move. A vendor who sells natural body scrubbers (loofah) at Motphran said that the move if implemented would hit them hard on their stomach.
“I don’t see any logic behind this decision. However, if the authorities decide to implement the ban on hawkers, they should first provide us alternative space,” she said.
Her concern was echoed by another roadside vendor in the area selling kwai and cigarettes who said that the authorities were only interested in getting rid of the hawkers and they did not bother about how their decisions would affect the hawkers who live from hand to mouth.
“A bazaar area, be it in Delhi or Kolkata or Fancy Bazaar (Guwahati) is always congested with vehicles, vendors, customers and others. The authorities in those places never prohibit display of goods in such areas,” said a roadside vendor who was selling shoes.
When asked about the impact of the decision on the roadside vendors, the CEO of the Municipal Board replied that it was a collective decision taken by the headmen of certain localities around Iewduh, the Syiem of Mylliem and the SMB during a meeting convened the chairmanship of Urban Affairs Minister Ampareen Lyngdoh and other department officials. Incidentally, the CEO was unaware of the impact this decision would have on the livelihood of the hawkers and roadside vendors.
