Udupi (The Hindu): Personnel of the Udupi City Municipal Council (CMC) evicted two pushcart operators and six street vendors from the busy city bus stand – service bus stand area here on Wednesday.

But the operation was met with opposition from pushcart operators and vendors and members of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), who insisted that the livelihood of the pushcart operators and street vendors be protected.

D. Manjunathaiah, CMC commissioner, told The Hindu that the council had given a notification in newspapers over a fortnight ago in which it had specified the vending zones for pushcart operators and street vendors.

It was not possible to allow pushcart operators and street vendors to sell their wares, vegetables, fruits and others, on the side of the roads at the city bus stand, service bus stand, KSRTC bus stand, Abharana Road, Triveni Circle areas, and Gurukripa Road. “A large number of vehicles, two-wheelers and pedestrians pass through these areas. The presence of pushcarts and vendors obstruct traffic,” he said.

The CMC had identified areas such as Kalsank-Ambagilu, Christian High School Road, Mission Compound Road, Bannanje to Brahmagiri, Daina Restaurant to Govinda Kalyana Mantapa as “vending zones”.

“We are not against pushcart operators and vendors. We have told them that they do not have to shift immediately. They can do so gradually within a week. We have promised them that we will renew their vending cards,” he said.

The CMC has also identified 12 areas as no-parking zones in consultation with the police and traffic police in the city.

Boards have been erected on the areas identified as vending zones and no-parking zones.

Meanwhile, pushcart operators and vendors are reluctant to move to the vending zones as they fear loosing their business owing to low movement of people in those areas.

Balakrishna Shetty, secretary, district committee of the CPI(M), said that the CMC should form a town vending committee and not unilaterally decide on vending zones. It would have to take everyone into confidence, he said.

“There is no point in asking vendors to go to places where there is no business. The Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party have joined hands for the eviction drive,” he alleged.

Meenakshi Bannanje, CMC president, and some municipal councillors, were present.