Street vendors on NSB Road in Tiruchy. , Photo Credit: M.Murthy
Tiruchi Corporation will soon complete the survey of enumeration of street vendors in all the five zones of the city to constitute a Town Vending Committee to regulate public movement and generate revenue.
A new survey is underway in all the five zones through Sense Image Technologies, a Chennai-based agency, to form street vending committees, which will identify places where vendors can and cannot do business. After the process, an election would be held to elect their representatives.
According to officials, there are over 3,700 street vendors in the city. However, records show that the number is now more than 5,000. He said that the exact figures of street vendors are expected to come after the completion of the survey. A target has been set to complete the survey by the end of March.
Ward-wise enumeration of street vendors is being done and each street vendor will be registered by the Town Vending Committee and issued an identity card. The agency will record details including name, permanent address, photograph, nature of business and place of their operation of vendors using GPS-enabled devices. “GPS tagging will prevent duplication. The ongoing survey will be comprehensive, and no vendor will be left out,” said a senior corporation official.
The panel will categorize permitted and prohibited places or roads for street vendors to ensure that public movement remains unaffected. Vendors will have basic facilities including toilets. Financial assistance will be arranged by the committee. “As of now, we do not generate any revenue from street vendors. Once the committee is constituted, the prescribed user fee will be collected,” said the official.