SHILLONG, April 26: Dogged by the congestion inside Police Bazar, the Federation of Shillong Hotels has petitioned East Khasi Hills Deputy Commissioner apprising the latter of the prevailing situation at one of the most important commercial hubs of the state arising out of ‘unregulated’ hawkers operating in the market area.
At the outset, the federation clarified that it is in no manner against the hawkers earning their daily bread. “But as hoteliers, our main concern is the over-congestion in the street due to too many hawkers, which results in unpleasant movement of local pedestrians and tourists alike,” the organisation said in its letter.
Embarkment and disembarkment of tourists outside the hotels located in the area is also a serious issue, it pointed out.
Maintaining that Police Bazar is like the drawing room of Shillong, it said that the present “hawker-infested street exposes a pathetic state of affairs in front of the visitors and at the same time also causes harassment to the local pedestrians.”
The federation stressed that the matter needs to be addressed with utmost urgency. All the hawkers should be relocated from the streets to a feasible location like a permanent ‘Hawkers Market’ and their numbers thereof also need to be curtailed which otherwise could well explode into an irrevocable situation, the hotels’ body said.
The Federation of Shillong Hotels is not adverse to the idea but requires exceptions for Residents and Tourist vehicles to drop and pickup tourists from inside the street.
The government, in spite of several inspections, has been unable to resolve the matter by allotting the hawkers a suitable space.
Not only Police Bazar, G.S. Road, Motphran and Laitumkhrah are also crowded with hawkers taking over the footpath
On Wednesday evening, a visit to Laitumkhrah showed hawkers sitting on the roadside with tables and chairs selling various goods.
One side of the road at Laitumkhrah has been designated for parking of two-wheelers, but a significant chunk of the space is nonetheless occupied by hawkers. Similar is the situation at Motphran. The hawkers have been demanding a designated space to conduct business for a very long time, but considering their numbers at present, it seems the government would find it difficult to accommodate all of the hawkers if any venue is eventually allotted.
It may be recalled that the High Court of Meghalaya had last year dispose of a writ petition filed by the the Meghalaya and Greater Shillong Progressive Hawkers’ and Street Vendors’ Association after the state government decided to implement the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act 2014 and to introduce rules for hawking under the legislation.
Also, the state Cabinet had last year framed rules for street vending after informing the court that it will repeal the state act and enforce central law and make rules under it in a time-bound manner.
