By Express News Service THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A few days ago, the city corporation had dismantled 10 makeshift tents erected by various protestors in front of the Secretariat. This decision was taken as it was found the protestors posed a challenge for pedestrians who traversed the route. The corporation is now set to intensify the drive against the illegal street vendors who have taken over footpaths in various parts of the city, obstructing pedestrian movement. According to Mayor V K Prasanth, vendors who have encroached footpaths in the past four months will be evicted. The health wing of the corporation has been directed to take the necessary steps in this regard. The corporation has already identified about 500 vendors, who run food stalls blocking footpaths in the city. “Several stalls of street vendors have been mushrooming in the city recently, posing difficulties for pedestrians and forcing them to walk on the roads. So we have decided to conduct an eviction drive of street vendors in the coming days,” said the mayor. The corporation has also decided to carry out the eviction drive after a process to filter illegal vendors to avoid protests from the unions. Recently, the corporation had conducted a survey on street vendors. In the first survey, about 1,884 vendors have been identified out of which 500 vendors have been issued ID cards and allowed to continue their business. In the second survey, the corporation has identified about 1,500 vendors. “Few vending zones have been identified by the corporation which will be presented in the upcoming town vending committee for approval. Based on the decision, the vendors will be given specific spots to set up their stalls,” said a corporation official. The by-law for street vendors as per the latest gazette notification of the state government needs to be finalised by the corporation. The corporation will be identifying the vending zones, non-vending zones and the restricted zones based on the volume of traffic, the number of pedestrians passing through the street and the potential of the area. The number of street vendors will be decided by considering the capacity of each designated vending area. The city corporation had cleared the footpath in front of the Secretariat twice and removed the temporary structures which obstructed the path of the pedestrians.

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