Bhubaneswar: After being removed from the main thoroughfares by Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC), street vendors, who alleged they were not rehabilitated, are occupying internal roads in different localities to continue their business contributing to congestion and hindering traffic movement.
The vendors have also been occupying the conservancy lanes, which were refurbished recently. “We have no choice but to find an alternative spot to continue our business. If we don’t, how are we going to earn our livelihood and maintain our families?” asked Divyankar Jena, a tea seller in an inner lane in Infocity area.
BMC, since mid-Dec, launched a comprehensive eviction drive to clear encroachment from public places ahead of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2025 from Jan 8 to 10. The civic body has identified 55 priority arteries for clearing encroachments.
“We are simply relocating street vendors. Eviction is not the right word. All the eligible street vendors have been provided with proper rehabilitation. Some of them are reluctant to move, and we are looking into it,” city mayor Sulochana Das said.
Pratap Sahu, president of All Odisha Street Vendors’ Association, who is continuing protest against eviction, demanded the vendors need to be rehabilitated to the same place from where they were removed. “We will not tolerate any injustice,” he said.
Urban planners said the civic body may face further trouble, especially because of encroachment by vendors in the conservancy lanes. Conservancy lanes, the space between rows of houses, are meant for emergency services.
BMC initiated an effort to revive the conservancy lanes last year, which were either encroached or not maintained. It has refurbished the lanes by placing paver blocks.
“Bhubaneswar has conservancy lanes in many localities. City authorities have rightly revived those, but fresh encroachment by vendors now is a cause for concern,” city-based urban planner Piyush Ranjan Rout said.