Street vending not allowed in IMC area: Khemchand
Source: Chronicle News Service
Imphal, March 02 2023:
MAHUD minister Y Khemchand said that street vending is not allowed in Imphal Municipal Corporation (IMC) areas but relaxed from 4 am to 7 am to ply their wares only on humanitarian ground.
He gave the information in the assembly on Thursday while responding to a calling attention motion moved by Oinam MLA Irengbam Nalini regarding the limited time schedule for street vendors at Khwairamband Keithel.
The minister said that some individuals had even filed a plea in the high court in 2018 to ban street vending in Imphal city keeping in view of the issues caused by them to commuters and traffic congestion.
Consequently, IMC ruled that street vending is not allowed in IMC areas.
However, the government is granting permission to carry out small trades on road side in Imphal city area in the morning from 4 to 7 on humanitarian ground, he explained while adding that the street vendors can always carry out their trades at Lamphel Sana Keithel where the government has set up market sheds for them.
In a notification issued on February 22, 2022, the government had notified Lamphel Sana Keithel as wholesale vending space for street vendors in order to attract buyers, he added.
While moving the motion, MLA Nalini said that the street vendors, who are mostly from rural areas, make preparations from 1 am post-midnight to bring their products to Khwairamband Keithel and sell them from the wee hours.
However, the limited schedule fixed by IMC has created severe inconveniences to these street vendors as they could not complete sale of their products within the specified time.
These women vendors are contributing to almost half of their families' financial needs.
Some of them are farmers and some are traders, who source farm products from farmers and bring them to Imphal to make a meagre profit, she said while drawing attention of the House to explore possibilities of extending the schedule till 10 am .