The plan to move some 200 hawkers and street vendors out of the bustling Khyndailad streets is coming closer to fruition even if it is already a year overdue.
Tourism Minister Paul Lyngdoh said today that the hawkers will be moved to new locations by June this year, exactly 12 months beyond the old planned date.
A pet project of Lyngdoh’s, the move is meant to turn Khyndailad back into a pedestrian zone. Currently vehicles are allowed to use the route one way, to the great frustration of pedestrians who have to squeeze out of the cars’ way all the while being subjected to their loud honking. The bizarre argument put forward to allow vehicles through the area was that hawkers would take over Khyndailad completely if it was pedestrian-only.
The government decided last year to move the hawkers out and Lyngdoh hopes that from a hawker zone, Khyndailad will become a music hub – he envisions tourists being serenaded by music acts along the route when it becomes closed to vehicular traffic and free from vendors.
The government has been identifying and registering the hawkers who currently make a living there and these will be moved, mostly within Khyndailad but off the streets.
Speaking to reporters after attending a mini strawberry festival held at the commercial hub today, Lyngdoh said, “We have already made tremendous progress and by the end of June we should be in a position to relocate around 200 street vendors.”
The government has been working with the Shillong Municipal Board (SMB) and Meghalaya Urban Development Authority (MUDA) in this respect.
“We have worked out the vending zone with the SMB. MUDA has also come forward to lend its support and we expect that in these shopping areas identified within the MUDA complex here at Khyndailad these 200 hawkers will be rehabilitated,” he said while admitting that not all hawkers are on board with the move.
Lyngdoh also referenced a devastating fire in Thana Road, in the Khyndailad area, last year. He blamed the “obstruction and occupation of almost the entire road by hawkers” for delays in getting fire engines to the scene of the blaze. However, hawkers have previously denied that they impeded access to fire trucks.
Once his plan takes shape, Khyndailad “will also become a music hub,” the minister added. “We have been calling ourselves the music capital of India and therefore this is just the right place where anybody who lands in Shillong will first be welcomed by the sound of music, our tunes. Our performance artists will be there throughout the year to entertain visitors to Shillong.”
The area near the steps of the old Assembly and the two-wheeler parking spot in Khyndailad are already sometimes used for musical and other entertainment. Only time will tell whether the ever busy Khyndailad really needs a permanent music scene.
“We intend by July to start this bustling music zone along the entire stretch of Khyndailad,” Lyngdoh said.
