Hawkers question eviction, blame vehicles for traffic mess at Sitabuldi
Nagpur: Street vendors blamed the rising number of vehicles, not hawkers, for traffic congestion on Sitabuldi main road — from Variety Square to Lohapul — and termed their eviction by the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) and city police unjust.
Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, Abdul Razzaq Quereshi, president of the Nagpur Feriwala Association and a Town Vending Committee (TVC) member, called the recent eviction drive "pre-planned and illegal," claiming the vendors were displaced just a day after the High Court was closed for summer holidays.
"It was a calculated move. Authorities knew they wouldn't get away with this if the court was in session," Quereshi told reporters.
The displaced hawkers have since been shifted to Maharajbagh road.
Quereshi alleged that the eviction violates the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, as the TVC neither passed a resolution nor consulted hawkers. "We were kept in the dark. There was no meeting, no notice, no legal process," he said.
The NMC, however, claimed that the TVC had approved the relocation earlier, which Quereshi and others reportedly boycotted.
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This dispute has further deepened the mistrust between hawkers and the administration.
The hawkers are planning to move the High Court on June 9. "If we don't get relief, we will go to the Supreme Court. This is not just about business — it's about our fundamental right to livelihood," Quereshi said, adding that citywide peaceful protests will continue in the meantime.
He also said the relocation to Maharajbagh road was never discussed in earlier 12 TVC meetings.
"Why now? What is the hidden agenda?" he asked.
"The govt is prioritizing parking zones over people's livelihoods. You are clearing space for cars while pushing working-class youth into joblessness. This kind of injustice can only destabilize the city's law and order in the long run," he warned.
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