The Ranchi Municipal Corporation is all set to enforce the non-vending zone on 1.5km-stretch between Sarjana Chowk and Kutchery Road from Monday, July 1, but it is easier said than done, many hawkers say.

Everyone’s aware that the step has been taken to clear the pavement and sides of the busy stretch on Ranchi Main Road and the new Atal Smriti Vendor Market built at Kutchery for the convenience of vendors, but still many hawkers were unhappy, one of them near Sarjana Chowk said.

“We’ve been sitting here on the footpath for decades now, we know our regular customers, they know us. Change of place may have a negative impact on our business. There’s every possibility that some hawkers try everything to stay where they are,” said the hawker.

What about the Atal Smriti Vendor Market built to rehabilitate the hawkers? “We are not yet sure that the market will catch on. Many hawkers who got space there are planning to let relatives run the new shops while they ply their trade as usual on the footpath,” said another hawker. “A new market complex takes time to establish itself.”

General secretary of Ranchi Footpath Dookandar Hawker Sangh Anita Das did not rule out this possibility but claimed their union would fight it tooth and nail.

“The district administration must look into the matter seriously. If vendors sit on the footpath, it will ruin the prospects of Atal vendor market, which has come up after efforts of years. If the vendor market has to run properly, no hawker should trade on the Main Road,” Das said.

President of the hawkers’ union Deepak Singh agreed with Das. “I have already alerted municipal commissioner Manoj Kumar about it and have asked him to take preventive measures,” he said. “I told the municipal commissioner to put up a shed near Atal market for vendors who could not get space inside it. Such a move will keep hawkers away from non-vending zones like the Main Road,” Singh said.

Singh added: “We expect the civic body to expedite distributing vending certificates and licences to all 5,901 vendors across the capital. This list was prepared after a survey by town vending committee. This will prevent vendors from other localities from swamping the Main Road.”

Deputy municipal commissioner Shankar Yadav said every step had been taken to ensure vendors stayed out of non-vending zones. On Atal market, he said it was “a historic attempt to socially and economically uplift vendors.”