Vending turns a green and beautiful affair

The idea, now a successful project, germinated following a tussle.

Many corporations are eager to adopt the model, which surprises many like Gourav Mohapatra, working in a finance company outside Odisha, during their visits to Bhubaneswar. The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation has created a separate “vending zone” --a cluster of shops in green colour on one side of a busy thoroughfare in the city.

The vending zones of Bhubaneswar have already gained a lot of popularity among town planners across the country so much so that representatives of urban local bodies of different states have been visiting the Odisha capital at regular
intervals to take tips to introduce similar vending zones in their respective urban centres.

“Our vending zones are gaining popularity by the day,” said Pratap Kumar Sahu, the president of All Odisha Roadside Vendors’ Association. Sahu had played a key role when the vending zone system was introduced in Bhubaneswar in November, 2006.

According to Sahu, the idea of a vending zone was floated by his association
after a tussle between the BMC and the street vendors over a demolition drive --a regular feature in urban centres across the country. “We floated the idea and the BMC authorities appreciated it. And the first vending zone in the city was born”, he maintained.

Bhubaneswar, which consists of 60 wards, is currently having 56 vending zones where 2,600 street vendors have been rehabilitated. However, that is not enough as more than 22,000 vendors have to be accommodated. “We need as many as 180 vending zones to accommodate all the street vendors,” said Sahu.

If the members of the Street Vendors Association are to be believed, the vending zone system benefits all - the vendors, the municipal corporation as well as the common people in the city.    Once a street vendor is rehabilitated in a vending zone, the biggest fear of his or her life --a demolition or eviction drive by municipal
authorities - is gone. Street vendors lose thousands of rupees, all hard-earned,
during these demolition or eviction drives. “The quality of life of the street vendors and their families automatically improves as they get an opportunity to do their
business without any hassles and fear,” Sahu observed.

The municipal corporation gets a two-way benefit out of the vending zones. Once the vending zones are set up, the number of demolition drives comes down, thus providing the corporation an opportunity to save funds. Demolition drives cost the corporation coffer a lot of money. At the same time it (the corporation)
generates revenue through trade licences provided to street vendors settled in the vending zones.

The common people get the benefit of cleaner and neat environment. The vending zones are much cleaner compared to unauthorised roadside shops. In fact, they are set up with a motto to make the city “Sabuja- Sunder” (green and beautiful).

The vending zones of Bhubaneswar seem to have also impressed the Urban Development Ministry as it has reportedly asked departments in all states to consider the Odisha experiment while solving the street vendors’ problems in their
respective states.

The popularity of the Bhubaneswar vending zones has already crossed the borders and reached the foreign soil too as a team from France  was in Bhubane­swar recently to have a look at the system. A few foreign groups had studied the
project earlier.

NGOs are impressed by the vending zones. A Gujarat-based non-governmental organisation, in fact, has already made a documentary called “Paheli”, exclusively based on Bhubaneswar vending zones. The success has spurred demand for such zones in other parts of  Odisha.  It is estimated that Odisha has about two lakh street vendors.

The street vendors of Cuttack, the state’s erstwhile capital and a major
business hub, had recently staged a
dharna in the city demanding a Bhubane­swar-like vending zone. The project has been introduced in  Sambal­pur and Sonepur in western Odisha and Berhampur in the south.   However, despite the growing popularity, the Bhubaneswar vending zones have their shares of controversies too.

The BMC has now decided to declare 12 “VIP” areas within the city as no-vending zone localities. Those carrying out their trade from there are vehemently protesting against the move. However, the corporation has  promised that those displaced will be resettled in new vending zones. “We have already asked the general
administration department to hand over suitable land where new vending zones will be set up to accommodate the displa­ced street vendors,” city Mayor Ananta Narayan Jena said.