4 days ago
3
The hawkers doing concern connected Besant Road successful Vijayawada are staring astatine uncertainty aft receiving the eviction bid from the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) connected Saturday.
For much than 10 years, the owners of concern establishments and hawkers person been jostling for abstraction connected the busiest marketplace roadworthy of the city. While the store owners pointed retired that the roadworthy remains choked with unauthorised pushcarts, the hawkers argued that Besant Road had been their root of livelihood for years.
On April 23, 2025, a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed successful the High Court, highlighting the “chaotic situation” connected Besant Road and seeking orders directing the officials to instrumentality enactment against the amerciable hawkers. As portion of this, a survey was conducted successful the municipal corporations crossed the State to place registered hawkers.
While this was underway, successful July 2025, the Division Bench of the High Court ordered that “no further licences should beryllium issued to thoroughfare vendors anyplace successful the State till determination is simply a program successful spot prepared successful accordance with the provisions of the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014”.
After the survey study was submitted, the February 2026 bid of the Bench directed the VMC Commissioner to initiate enactment to guarantee that lone the licensed vendors are permitted to run connected Besant Road. Out of 257 hawkers identified here, lone 57 had valid documents and immoderate others produced them later.
Following the orders, the VMC issued showcause notices to 170 vendors successful April and gave 30 days, successful accordance with the A.P. Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Rules, 2017.
After uncovering that galore of them bash not person Certificates of Vending (CoV) and individuality cards, the VMC issued eviction orders to these vendors connected Saturday.
According to officials, the vendors person to vacate their spot of concern wrong the adjacent 2 to 3 days, failing to bash which volition pull a good of ₹250 per day.
Now, immoderate hawkers who received the showcause notices person said they are not unauthorised vendors, but that their vending certificates were not renewed successful time.
Someswara Rao, a hawker, is among those who person received the eviction orders. He says that helium had applied for renewal of the CoV successful May 2023, and besides made a outgo for the same.
“The VMC did not renew it until 2025, and later, citing the July 2025 High Court order, they enactment a halt to renewing our certificates,” helium says, adding that portion the tribunal bid meant nary caller licence should beryllium given, it did not mean that existing certificates should not beryllium renewed.
According to accusation from the VMC, vending certificates indispensable beryllium renewed each 3 years. Of the 170 vendors the VMC issued notices to, lone 49 person nary documents. Most of them did not renew their certificates, and immoderate others paid for renewal, but the process was stopped owed to the HC bid of July, sources said.
While it is not wide whether the High Court bid besides meant the discontinuation of renewals, the hawkers are connected tenterhooks, unwilling to beryllium relocated.
The VMC has not yet zeroed successful connected an alternate vending spot for them, and until that happens, the hawkers accidental they volition not region their carts from the road.
