‘Relocation of street vendors to smart vending zones nowhere in sight’
Srinagar, Nov 20: The time continues to elapse, but there seems to be no takers for the ambitious project of smart vending zones in the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, Srinagar, that came up at the cost of Rs 4.84 crores four years ago.
The vending zones constructed near Khalsa School here in Magarmal Bagh area, have been left abundant for the period of four years now as there has been no decision on the relocation of registered street vendors from the market places to smart vending zones, thereby leaving the state exchequer towards the losses.
The decision to come up with the smart vending zones was announced in 2018 while the work in this regard was started in 2020 and was completed within a period of one year only.
However, the motive behind coming up with the smart vending zones has not been achieved yet with the street vendors continuing to occupy the roadside here and forcing the commuters to face tremendous hardships.
“The roadside occupation in Srinagar has turned out into a nuisance for the commuters, who even had to face road accidents given the less space for the commuting,” the locals said, adding that the ready to use smart vending zones should bear some fruit at least.
These smart vending zones should at least bring some relief to the people from the illegal occupation of the roads amidst the rising road accidents, they said, adding that the fines alone cannot reduce the number of road traffic accidents, but simultaneous measures are also the need of the hour.
However, the officials within the SMC stated that the Srinagar Smart City Limited (SSCL) was planning to take over the project, but the decision has not been taken yet while the officials from the SSCL stated that the vending zones are still the jurisdiction of the SMC.
Meanwhile, despite repeated attempts, no one from the Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) including Commissioner Owais Ahmad and Joint Commissioners received the phone calls to share the details in this regard.
