Hyderabad: The Telangana government informed the state High Court that it would soon notify vending zones for street vendors and prepare a street vending plan for the state after completion of the survey of street vendors which was in the final stage.
The government told the court that it had identified 67, 313 street vendors so far, including in the capital, and the survey would have a data of all street vendors.
The government proposed to notify three categories of zones — free, restricted and prohibited — in municipalities and corporations across the state. It had filed an affidavit in this regard pursuant to the court direction on a petition by one G. Ganesh Singh, a road side vendor near NIMS.
Hospital, seeking to declare illegal the action of authorities in not implementing the Street Vendors (Protection Of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act 2014 and the Scheme of Street Vending in Telangana notified in GO No. 11 of January 5, 2016, in letter and spirit. There was also interference by authorities in his business being carried on street margins.
Special counsel for government A. Sanjeev Kumar told a division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and Justice K. Vijaya Lakshmi that the government had issued 63,372 identity cards to street vendors across the state.
He submitted that 71 petitions were filed seeking implementation of the Act 2014 and the scheme.
About inconvenience because of vendors at traffic signals in city, the bench made it clear that without providing the facilities under the Act, the government could not take action against street vendors.
He brought to the notice of the court that the Act came into force on March 4, 2013, and Telangana state was formed on June 2, 2014 and the government formulated the scheme in 2016 as per the provisions of the Act 2014.
Counsel said the process for issuance of vending certificates to the identified street vendors would commence soon and but for Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation area, the government had constituted town vending committees in all urban local bodies. The survey had been completed in 66 urban local bodies.
