The mismanagement of street vending regulations has led to an increase in illegal vending practices and exploitation by local nexuses
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The number of street vendors in Guwahati continues to rise unchecked, turning several new streets into bustling vending zones. The latest example is BK Kakati Road near the Assam Police Headquarters, where fish and meat vendors have begun openly slaughtering meat, exacerbating traffic congestion. Similar scenes of chaos can be witnessed across the city, highlighting the Guwahati Municipal Corporation’s (GMC) continuous failure to fully implement the Street Vending Act.
Despite repeated claims, GMC has yet to bring order to the city’s growing street vending crisis. Recently, the municipal corporation announced that 81 vending zones had been identified to regularise vendors. However, this decision appears ill-conceived as the identification process was conducted without first completing a thorough street vending survey. GMC officials do not even have an accurate count of the total number of vendors in the city, nor have they identified the vendors who will be allotted space in these designated zones.
According to the provisions of the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014, GMC was required to conduct a survey, issue identity cards to all street vendors, and rehabilitate them in designated vending zones. However, to date, no such survey has been completed, and no vendors have received proper identification or designated spots. Instead, vending zones have been arbitrarily announced without any clear plan for their implementation.
In an attempt to conduct a survey, GMC collaborated with a Delhi-based NGO, All India Institute of Local Self Government. The survey was supposed to be completed within six months, as reported by GPlus in September 2022, yet it remains incomplete well past the deadline. In March 2023, GMC claimed the survey would be finished by August 2023, but months later, no substantial progress has been made.
A senior GMC official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, revealed that the NGO entrusted with the survey lacked the necessary resources and expertise to carry out the project efficiently. “They do not even have a dedicated team in Guwahati to complete the survey. Vendors are increasing daily, and there is no well-planned methodology to carry out such an extensive study,” the official stated. He further suggested that the NGO might not even be receiving payments from GMC, further complicating the survey’s execution.
This is not the first time GMC has faltered in implementing a vendor survey. In July 2020, the Assam government introduced the Assam Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Scheme 2020, aimed at regularising street vendors and providing them with licenses and business facilities. However, this scheme was unnecessary had the Street Vendors Act of 2014 been properly implemented.
A decade after the Act’s passage, GMC has still failed to enforce it effectively.
Following the 2014 Act, a town vending committee was formed under the leadership of the GMC Commissioner, with members from NGOs, vendors, banks, and law enforcement agencies. Although various vending zones such as South Zone, West Zone, East Zone, Lokhra Zone, and Dispur Zone were reportedly identified, they were never officially notified. The last official vendor survey was conducted in April 2015, revealing a total of 7,182 street vendors in Guwahati. Despite the survey’s findings, no vendors were allotted designated vending zones.
In 2015, GMC declared the divider opposite Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) as a vending zone and claimed to have provided amenities. However, after the BJP came to power in 2016, this vending zone was abruptly removed, violating the Street Vending Act, which mandates that vendors can only be evicted after being provided an alternative space.
One of the most pressing questions remains: How did GMC notify vending zones without first conducting the required survey? According to a senior GMC official, the municipal corporation is relying on outdated 2015 data and supplementing it with information from vendors who have taken loans under the PM Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) scheme. However, this raises concerns, as approximately 28,000 vendors have availed of the PM SVANidhi loan, while the vending zones identified by GMC can only accommodate around 6,000 vendors.
The Street Vending Association of Assam’s General Secretary, Debajit Senapati, has voiced concerns that the entire process is poorly planned. “The vending zones have been identified, but without a proper survey, this will lead to more chaos,” he said. While he acknowledged the GMC Commissioner’s efforts to follow the Street Vending Act, he warned that the move could backfire. Senapati also alleged that loans were being given to fake vendors, including self-help groups and individuals who are not genuine vendors.
Further complicating matters, there are critical discrepancies in the placement of vending zones. Some areas requiring vending zones have none, while zones have been designated in areas where vendors are unlikely to operate. For instance, a vending zone near Ramkrishna Mission has been deemed impractical by vendors, and the absence of a single vending zone on GS Road—one of the most vendor-populated areas—has raised concerns.
The mismanagement of street vending regulations has led to an increase in illegal vending practices and exploitation by local nexuses. In areas like Lachit Nagar, vendors have begun encroaching on footpaths, with reports suggesting that some pay daily bribes to GMC officials and local leaders to continue operating. A local fruit vendor disclosed that he pays Rs. 30 daily to GMC officials and had to pay an additional sum to a local leader before being allowed to set up his stall.
The GMC has distanced itself from these allegations, with a senior official stating, “We do not levy charges on unauthorised vendors. The situation in Lachit Nagar is controlled by a local nexus.” Despite periodic eviction drives, the vendors return within hours, rendering the efforts ineffective.
Meanwhile, eviction drives continue across Guwahati without providing any viable alternatives for displaced vendors. Recently, vendors in the Jalukbari area were forcibly removed under the “no vending, no parking” regulation, leaving them without a source of livelihood. The authorities have also threatened to evict vendors in Ulubari without specifying relocation plans.
A vendor from Jalukbari, who has been selling in the area for years, expressed his distress: “They evicted us without offering any alternative space. This is my only means of feeding my family. How will we survive?” Another vendor lamented, “We are not against following the rules, but they need to give us time and a proper place to work. If they just evict us without informing us where to go, our families will suffer.”
Despite the growing uncertainty, GMC insists that vending zones will be established. Plans were announced in 2023 to create 120 vending zones across Guwahati, with at least 60 zones under discussion for each ward. However, progress remains slow, and by December 2024, GMC had only approved 83 vending zones, with 10 zones promised for January 2025.
With no clear timeline for implementing these zones, street vendors in Guwahati remain in limbo, struggling to earn a living while facing continuous threats of eviction. Until GMC fully implements the Street Vending Act and properly regulates street vending, the city’s streets will remain chaotic, and the livelihoods of thousands will hang in the balance.
