CHENNAI: The Tambaram Municipality is showing the way for other municipal corporations as it is ready to issue identity cards to the street vendors who are willing to undertake a survey. The survey which was done in accordance to The Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014, has so far enabled the municipality to identify 1131 vendors in its 39 wards. Issuing identity cards to vendors legitimises their trade, protects them from eviction and also helps curb illegal vending which contributes to encroachment of public space and congestion. Elaborating on the methodology of the survey, officials said that they used mobile-based android applications to conduct the survey, which is a first for any municipality. “Not only did we collect details using a questionnaire, we also recorded the latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates to identify the exact spot from where they were vending. We also took their photographs and biometric details,” an official said.
Of those identified, 93.7 per cent were found to be stationary vendors, meaning those who carry out vending activities on a regular basis at a specific location, according to the Act. Only 6.3 per cent were mobile or classified as seasonal vendors. Municipality officials said that as soon as they receive policy note from the hawking committee, the vendors will be issued with the cards. Tambaram, which is spread out over an area of 20.72 sq km entertains a floating population of 2 lakh on a daily basis, which is what contributes to the congestion when vendors are put in the mix.
Going forward, the municipality will identify vending zones to rehabilitate the vendors and give them enough space to hawk from. These zones are likely to be in and around Shanmugham Road, Rajaji Road and Gandhi Road, where most of the hawking happens now. Ward 35 and Ward 36 were found to have 463 and 386 vendors, which was 40.93 per cent and 34.12 per cent of the total vendors identified in Tambaram. Of the total vendors, 68.5 per cent were males and 31.5 per cent female. 87.6 per cent of the vendors were married suggesting that vending was their only source of livelihood to support their families. Around 72 per cent of the vendors earned anywhere between Rs 1000 and Rs 5000 a month. Officials said that they will help the vendors form Self Help Groups. “Issuing of identity cards will also help them avail loans from banks. The municipality will also assist in securing education loans for their children,” an official said.