Hawking zones, a distant dream in Bengaluru

The efforts in the city to create formal street-vending zones have consistently failed. With the deputy CM indicating an intent, will it happen now?

“The vitality of our IT parks should be reflected in the living standards of our street vendors,” says the Budget speech of Bengaluru East City Corporation presented yesterday. It adds: “To economically empower street vendors within the Corporation’s jurisdiction and ensure their welfare, e-vending vehicles will be distributed and development programmes will be organised.”

“We will provide FSSAI training and certfication to street vendors and establish designated, hygienic food zones in every ward,” promises the Bengaluru Central City corporation budget. Both corporations have allocated funds to provide e-vending vehicles to street vendors, indicating an intent to support them.

Earlier on March 20, after holding the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) executive committee meeting and the budget meeting of corporations at Vidhana Soudha, Deputy Chief Minister and Bengaluru Development Minister D K Shivakumar had announced the decision to introduce a new policy for footpaths.

“Citizens are struggling to walk on footpaths due to encroachment by street vendors. It has been decided to allocate separate spaces for vendors so that pedestrians can use the footpaths freely. Specific roads must be designated for street vending,” he said.

In Bengaluru, the push to create formal hawking zones has been a long and contested process involving street vendors, civic authorities, and planning bodies such as the Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT). Following the mandates of the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014, the city was required to identify and notify vending zones to protect vendors’ livelihoods while managing traffic and public space. 

DULT supported surveys, spatial mapping, and policy frameworks to integrate vending into urban mobility planning. However, delays in surveys, conflicts with local enforcement drives, and resistance from resident groups slowed implementation. There are neither official hawking zones, nor valid identity cards for hawkers in the city at present.

Eviction a perpetual problem

Vendors’ unions and activists repeatedly pushed for transparent processes within the Town Vending Committee and legal recognition. The Act makes it clear that no one can evict a street vendor without providing an alternative space. But evictions are common, as street vendors are detested by competing shops, vehicle owners who hunt for parking, and sometimes pedestrians who want to walk in peace, avoiding traffic on the roads.

Since the BBMP was dismantled and GBA was formed with five corporations, most zones still lack official Town Vending Committees (TVCs), which play a major role in implementing the act. Since the street vendors do not have valid identity cards, the cops chase them away, says S Babu, president of the Federation of Bengaluru District Street Vendors’ Association.

“There were several cases filed from Anekal, Malleshwaram, Rajajinagar, Jayanagar and other places. The court has now issued an order that under no circumstances can street vendors be evicted until alternative rehabilitation is made for them,” says C E Rangaswamy, president of Karnataka Pradesh Street Vendors Association. He is one of the petitioners in the High Court of Karnataka.

So, how much more time is practically needed for Bengaluru to get vending zones? Street vendor association representatives explain the procedure.

Under the Street Vendors Act, a Town Vending Committee (TVC) must be elected in each of the 10 zones within the GBA jurisdiction, with 40% of its members being street vendors. Joint Commissioners of the zones will head it.

While only 27,000 street vendors have been officially identified, there are more than 1.5 lakh in the city, and fresh surveys are needed to identify them and issue ID cards. 

Cards given to the identified 27,000 vendors need to be reissued because they bear the name of the Greater Bengaluru Authority, which will likely be replaced by the local corporation or the zone. Sources say tenders need to be issued to print these ID cards.

TVCs must meet to finalise vending zones, and steps must be taken to demarcate and establish them wherever possible. Earlier, a court directive placed the responsibility for identifying “natural markets,” as defined by the Street Vendors Act, solely on the TVC.

“Deputy Chief Minister has not told anyone to evict vendors. He said they will provide specific designated places for them away from the main roads; he hasn’t asked for evictions anywhere,” reiterates Rangaswamy.

“Officials make a show of footpath clearance drives on social media by posting photos of clearing the shops with JCBs in an inhuman way. Why did you let them set up shops in the first place?” asks a civic volunteer who prefers anonymity.

“They must get rid of the corruption in the system. A constable pays Rs 10 lakh to get his job. How is he going to recover it? He has to go after the street vendors to get it back. Making street vendors legal by giving them ID cards will work against this corrupt system. Corruption is a vicious cycle. If we don’t break it, it will continue and ruin every system,” says the volunteer.

Thus, it all boils down to willpower in the administration to form hawking zones. When it comes to designing hawking zones, officials need to look no further than Bengaluru, which has a few successful examples.

The Sanjayanagar pilot

Subbaiah T S, a resident of Sanjayanagar and a member of the Citizens for Sustainability (C4S) forum, explains a pilot they conducted there four years ago. “The area had street vendors and many eateries as well. It was all unorganised, and they were cluttering the area. Traffic movement was becoming a problem.”

C4S members coordinated with the 12 resident welfare associations in the area and held discussions with the street vendors to formalise a vending zone near the Radha Krishna temple and formulate guidelines for the vendors to follow.

The plan translated into action. A hawking zone was designated. A common area for washing vessels was provided. Every day, vendors had to clean up the place before they left. Separate dust bins were provided for wet and dry waste, and vendors had to maintain them. Disposable plastic usage was discouraged.

“We made it clear that the number of hawkers should not be increased anymore, and more people cannot join it. Many people from the same families were vending, which was also discouraged,” explains Subbaiah.

The experiment was not without disruptions. At one point, all the hawkers had to move because some were not following the rules. Slowly, they returned to the place and started following the rules. Some vendors also shifted from street vending to formal shops.

Today, there are 15-20 vendors using the space. Facilities such as the toilet and other improvement works are pending and will be carried out in phases. The team also worked on proposing road improvements and parking regulations to free up more space for pedestrians.

Can this be considered a replicable model across the city? “The success depends on the surroundings. If you have a bylane where you can accommodate hawkers, that is good because it moves them away from the main road; they can continue their business without obstructing pedestrians or traffic,” says Subbaiah.

The Whitefield experiment

A similar experiment was done in Whitefield. “We set up vending zones outside ITPL on both sides of the road before Covid. It was working well, so it should work now. The vendors are willing to do it,” says Anjali Saini, a member of Whitefield Rising.

“The key is to find small sections and authorise a few vendors. For example, in front of the ITPL main gate, traffic cannot get heavy, so we planned just two vendors there — one tender coconut vendor and a juice vendor, whose customers were pedestrians, the IT park crowd and bus passengers. And it has to be very local. For example, we selected people who were from the same village area and who operated for their livelihood.” 

The other gate had six-seven identified vendors. The hawking zone was marked, vendors were provided with umbrellas, and benches were placed between the hawkers for customers to sit on. A single large garbage can was provided for all of them to dispose of their trash at the end of the day, and the BBMP team picked it up. Every vendor paid a garbage fee of Rs 50 per month. ID cards were given, signages were provided. 

However, the pandemic disrupted everything. Anjali says this has to be done on a large scale to make an impact, and only city corporations are capable of doing it. “They know what to do. We don’t have to tell them. They have to be willing to do it,” she adds. The Whitefield Rising team is trying to get hawking zones again, but the officials have not yet shown much enthusiasm.