Pune roads won't have stalls of vada pav, Chinese food anymore

PMC's new policy for hawkers bans street vendors from keeping LPG cylinders, thus doing away with items that need to be cooked before serving

There go your stalls of vada pav, Chinese and other street food items. The new policy for hawkers framed by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has banned the use of LPG cylinders by street food vendors.

No more cooking on streets: Cooking gas cylinders at street stalls have been banned by the PMC. Pics/Krunal Gosavi

PMC Commissioner Mahesh Pathak has drawn up a list of 45 roads which will soon fall in the ‘no hawking’ zone (see box).

Vendors’ panel
In line with the Supreme Court directions, Pune has become the first city to form a town vendors committee (TVC).

The civic commissioner elaborated the role of this committee as well as the policy for hawkers in a press conference.

“We have nominated 30 members to the recently formed TVC. They include representatives of hawker organisations, NGOs and PMC officials,” Pathak said.

He added, “We have asked the TVC to identify some of the spots on these roads where hawkers can do business without affecting traffic. A final decision will be taken after consulting the traffic police department.”

Strict action
According to data available with the PMC, there are 18,000 hawkers in the city. PMC has initiated a survey to identify them, which will conclude in the next two months.

“Each street vendor will be registered. We are taking details like UID numbers and their GPRS location so we can issue the licences,” said Additional Municipal Commissioner Rajendra Jagtap.

18,000
Number of hawkers in the city

Hawkers will have to pay a daily rent
Up until now, the PMC has been charging a nominal monthly rent from licence-holding hawkers. But as per the new policy, hawkers have to pay a daily rent ranging from Rs 25 to Rs 200, depending on the road they are doing business at.
The town vendors committee has divided the roads in four categories : A+, A, B and D, and hawkers on A+ roads have to pay Rs 200 per day.

‘No hawking’ zones
The proposed no hawking zone includes major routes like Tilak Road, Fergusson College Road, Kumthekar Road, Laxmi Road, Jangali Maharaj Road, Shastri Road, Pune-Satara Road, Karve Road, Prabhat Road, Bhandarkar Road.

The town vendors committee has also identified 153 chowks in the city, which will be free from hawkers.u00a0

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