With no vending zones, squatters ask Bareilly Municipal Corporation where should do they go now

BAREILLY: With no rehabilitation offered to road-side vendors by the Bareilly Municipal Corporation (BMC), its anti-encroachment drive serves little purpose as squatters come back to re-invade the spots soon after officials turn their backs. Though the BMC had proposed in 2014 that 10 vending zones at various locations of the city would be established, the project still remains pending.
“It will not be easy for us to evacuate places. We have been putting up here for the past many years and this is how we earn our livelihoods,” said Saqib Ali, a fruit vendor at Shyamatganj.
Another vendor Imran Qureshi, who has a stall near the district hospital road, said, “The civic authority had a few years back assured that they would give us separate a space where we can put up our stalls. But that has not happened till now. We will evacuate if we are provided better options.”
According to official sources, BMC had in 2014 hired a private agency to set up vending zones in different parts of the city. But the project never took off.
Speaking to TOI, Bareilly mayor IS Tomar however assured, “We will soon be hiring a new private agency to rehabilitate road-side vendors.”
With traffic snarls becoming an everyday problem because of encroachments, residents find it extremely difficult to commute. “The illegal vendors, especially those sitting on footpaths, make it difficult for us to even walk,” said Ravi Kumar, a commuter at Kaalibari.