Staff Reporter
ITANAGAR, Sep 4: The All Arunachal Pradesh Hawkers & Street Vendors Federation (AAPHSVF) has said it would not shift from the notified temporary vending zones in Ganga market here till the vendors and hawkers are provided with a permanent structure in another location.
“We will stay there as long as it is a notified zone, unless we are provided with a permanent shelter in an area with foot traffic,” AAPHSVF president Khoya Yaji told reporters at the press club here on Tuesday.
She also rejected the claims that the vendors and hawkers were grabbing the land.
“It is government property and no one can claim rights over it; not us or anyone else. The government will decide who the land should be allotted to for use,” she said.
She also clarified that the storm that had occurred in March this year blew away the bamboo structures, because of which they had to build a semi-open permanent structure, which she said did not imply that the vendors were settled there permanently.
Regarding claims that the vendors and hawkers were obstructing the highway construction, AAPHSVF general secretary Roger Nabam Hina clarified that the road measurements had been taken before the areas were notified as vending zones and there was no question of forcibly occupying any land.
He said commercial vehicles have been provided with parking space in the APSTS station and near IG Park. “We have not grabbed their parking space,” he said.
According to a notification issued on 23 August, 2017, the district administration had notified the area near the clock tower in Ganga market in place of the existing Trekker stand, and the area opposite Bank of Baroda in Ganga, in place of the existing private bus stand and private car parking area as temporary vending zones.