The first vending zone of Dhanbad with a space to accommodate 232 shops, constructed at a cost of Rs 1.98crore, by the Dhanbad Municipal Corporation at Baniahir ground of Jharia is ready for allotment among the street vendors of Jharia and surrounding areas.

An Intensive awareness programme among the street vendors of Jharia Sabji Patti Market, Jharia main road, Gandhi road, Laxminia more and other localities will be launched by the civic body which will also hold a meeting of Town Vending Committee members to participate in the allotment process of shops which would be made through a lottery system.

The vending zone situated on 1100 square meter area for which the construction began in February 2019 is equipped with drinking water facility, besides 24 toilets, a guardroom, a proper lighting arrangement and a parking facility for customers as well as street vendors.

Talking to The Telegraph Online on Thursday, Chandrashekhar, City Manager of Dhanbad Municipal Corporation, said, “We will begin the process of allotment of shops in vending zone after launching the awareness drive in a day or two and proper announcement in different market areas of Jharia would be carried out to ensure the maximum participation of street vendors.”

“The pedestals erected as shops have space below having a locker like facility where the allottees can keep their articles, safely after locking out the space,” said Chandrashekhar and added that the allotment of shops in vending zone of Baniahir, will help to address the long pending issue of congestion at Jharia Bata More, Sabzi Patti etc.

“The allotment of shops and vending zones will shield the street vendors against any kind of eviction by the police or administration during the anti-encroachment drives, which they regularly face while operating at non- designated places of operation,” further said Chandrashekhar.

“Besides the development of vending zones at Baniahir we have also initiated a process for the development of vending zones at Hirapur Hatia Market and Katras Hatia Market for which the tender has already been finalised and construction work is likely to begin in one week,” said Chandrashekhar.

“Besides constructing and allotting the vending zones we are also engaged in a survey of street vendors of the district as part of the government plan to provide QR Code Smart Identity Card as well as QR Code Smart Certificate of vending,” said Chandrashekhar.

Welcoming the development, Sneham Sinha, district coordinator of National Association of Street Vendors of Jharia said, “We welcome the completion of first vending zone of Dhanbad and would request the authorities to adopt a transparent and error free process of allotment of shops for the benefit of one and all.”