When Public Space Becomes a Question of Livelihood: The Street Vendor Dilemma in Sri Vijaya Puram
By Dweep Tulika There is an uncomfortable question emerging on the streets of Sri Vijaya Puram : When the administration removes a roadside vendor in the name of clearing public space, where does the protection of that vendor's livelihood begin and end? The question is not whether roads, footpaths and public land should remain accessible. They should. Illegal occupation of government land and obstruction of pedestrian movement cannot simply be ignored. But a street vendor is not automatically the same thing as an encroacher . That distinction is particularly important because street vending in India is governed by a specific legal framework — the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014 — and Sri Vijaya Puram Municipal Council itself lists the Act, the Union Territory's 2015 Rules and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands Street Vendors Scheme, 2016 among the regulations applicable to the municipality. Clearing Encroachments Is...