Illegal hawkers bribe shopkeepers to let them do business

By Dipika Datta Pillay

Hawkers say they have nowhere else to go.

BANGALORE (Feb. 9)—Shopkeepers on Sampige Road at 8th Cross Malleshwaram permit hawkers to run their business on the footpath, in return for a minimum daily fee.

The hawkers who have encroached on the Sampige Road footpath have for a long time faced strong disapproval from residents, shoppers and pedestrians. Complaints from the past two years have poured in demanding the eviction of the hawkers as there almost no space to walk. But no action was taken.

“Many shopkeepers here allow these vendors to sit in front on the footpath in exchange for a daily amount of Rs. 100-200,” said Venkatarama, owner of a half-century-old condiment store. “Once these vendors start paying rent, the shopkeepers have to abide by them. They mutually help each other.”

He also added that once a rule is passed for eviction and patrolling is done, vendors disappear for four to five days and come back thereafter.

“Only the authorities can come to our rescue because they don’t listen to us,” he said.

Shops on this road sell anything from saris, ayurvedic medicines, sweets and savories while vendors sell flowers, jute bags, plastic vessels, clothes and shoes.

“First of all the footpath is cracked and needs repair. Above that these hawkers sit here leaving no space for us to walk,” said Bhagyatamma, a housewife.

According to a Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike notification, the Sampige Road area is not a hawker’s zone, and no vendors are allowed permission to do trade. In 2006, the then Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy announced a plan to relocate vendors to a supermarket, but the plan remained only on paper.

“We pay a little rent to everyone. The corporation, the police and the shopkeeper,” said Sahil, a hawker selling pirated CDs. A SoftCopy reporter saw a policeman going on rounds at the road during peak hours on a busy Saturday.

Hawkers face fine for obstruction

Under Section 216 of the Karnataka Municipalities Act, whoever sets up any encroachment or obstruction in a public street shall be punished with fine of up to Rs. 25. The municipal corporation has the power to remove any such obstruction or encroachment.

The Karnataka Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorized Occupants) Act gives power to administrative authorities to fine an illegal vendor.

“We need to work and earn our livelihood. This is where we have been running business from a long time. How can we be dependent on the government? You tell us where else can we go,” said another hawker who did not wish to be named.

“Authorities are enforced with powers,” said Mujibullah Zaffari, deputy commissioner (estate) at the BBMP. “They need to take appropriate steps. The law is stringent but it needs to be enforced.”

He added that vendors are given a trade license for a monthly fee of Rs. 200. If they don’t have the license, they are illegal traders. Even those with the trade license are allowed to trade only between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.

Early this year, the state Cabinet approved the Karnataka Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Bill, which aims to restructure hawking by issuing specified vending zones under the corporation’s limits.