The Meghalaya government has assured that no hawker will be left to fend for themselves as it moves forward with the relocation process, which it says is being done in accordance with a High Court order.
Deputy Chief Minister in charge of Urban Affairs, Sniawbhalang Dhar, on Wednesday reiterated that the move is not an eviction drive but an enforcement action aimed at decongesting the city and ensuring pedestrian safety.
“We want our streets to be clean, our city to be disciplined. That is why we are not evicting the hawkers—we are relocating them to designated areas within the city,” said Dhar. The relocation sites include the top floor of the MUDA Parking Lot and the Municipal Parking Lot opposite SBI’s main branch in Khyndailad.
The Deputy Chief Minister emphasized that the decision was taken after several rounds of consultations with hawkers’ associations. “It is a collective decision. The government is doing its part to ensure a proper and humane relocation process,” he added.
On the status of the ground floor of the MUDA parking lot, earmarked earlier for hawkers, Dhar said that the government will take a decision on it at a later stage.
He was optimistic that hawkers will comply with the July 22 relocation deadline and cautioned that necessary action would be taken against those who fail to comply, as the government is bound by the court’s directive.
Dhar also revealed that out of the 1,400 hawkers identified by the government, over 700 were issued Certificates of Vending (CoV). The relocation will be carried out in a phase-wise manner, he said, and clarified that hawkers without CoV will be considered in a later phase.
“The government will ensure that local hawkers are not abandoned during this process. Our priority is to strike a balance between the needs of the vendors and the city’s requirement for order and cleanliness,” he added.
