Bengaluru, 8 July 

Thousands of street vendors gather at Freedom Park, Bengaluru on Wednesday to protest “anti-street vendor eviction policy” of the State government amid the Congress’ ‘Safe Footpath’ campaign that has seen bulldozers tear down alleged encroachments, structures and shift hawkers away from roads over the past few days.  

A delegation also met GBA Chief Commissioner Maheshwar Rao, who vowed “detailed deliberation” after consultation with Bengaluru Development Minister Krishna Byre Gowda, who is spearheading the drive, according to a release by the Beedhi Vyaparigala Janti Horata Samiti. 

The vendors also organised a successful 'Bengaluru Street Vendors Bandh', which saw main markets of the City, including KR Market, Gandhi Bazaar, Malleshwaram, Vijayanagar, Koramangala, Banashankari, Jayanagar, Shivajinagar, Gandhinagar, and others shut down.

Rao and Gowda vowed to meet street vending representatives in the coming. If they did not, the Samiti stated, the protests will intensify and go Statewide. 

“We also hope that the remaining two days of the safe footpath campaign do not involve street vendor evictions. In case the illegal evictions continue, we will resist them strongly on the ground,” the release added. 

Protesters alleged that poor hawkers were being disproportionately targeted and that rich established were being let off in the government’s drive. 

"(Chief Minister) DK Shivakumar, don't hit the poor on the stomach. Have you no mercy on the poor?" a woman hawker said while breaking into tears. Protesters said that the vending practice was a tradition carried down from generations. 

As one woman took the mic to list the community’s grievances—eviction notices with no warning, the loss of livelihoods, months of income wiped out overnight—the crowd responded with rousing chants of, “We want justice! We want justice!”

An online form circulated by activists also took up Gowda on his claim that 30 per cent 1,000 road accident deaths in Bengaluru are pedestrians asking him for his evidence. 

“In fact, research says that nearly 60 percent of victims were crossing roads while the crash happened,” it added, noting that a world-class City can have both street vendors and walkable footpaths.