Shillong, Jul 28: Street vendors from Polo and Jail Road areas have been relocated to two designated vending zones as part of the Meghalaya Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Scheme, 2023.
Vendors from Jail Road, between OB Shopping Mall and the Petrol Pump at MTC complex, have moved to the Parking Lot opposite SBI. Those from Polo have been shifted to the zone near Matri Mandir.
Both groups have commenced business from newly constructed stalls, the Urban Affairs Department said in a statement today.
The Matri Mandir zone has 132 stalls, with 70 currently occupied. The Parking Lot opposite SBI has 79 stalls, with 9 occupied, even as the relocation process is ongoing, the department said.
Another 22 vendors from Secretariat Hills and IGP Junction are scheduled to shift to the SBI Parking Lot zone on July 29.
Officials said the exercise involved 29 meetings by the Town Vending Committee (TVC) with vendor associations and stakeholders. The relocation was carried out without strict enforcement, it said, citing vendor cooperation.
To support the transition, Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma has announced the Chief Minister’s Urban Livelihood Grant. Vendors with a valid Certificate of Vending (CoV) will get ₹20,000 — ₹10,000 upfront and ₹2,000 per month for five months.
So far, 65 CoVs have been issued for the SBI Parking Lot zone and 106 for the Matri Mandir zone.
The department will begin relocation in Laitumkhrah from August 17, and aims to accommodate all eligible registered vendors in Shillong Municipal area in designated spaces by September. After that, notified no-vending zones will be strictly enforced to reduce congestion and improve pedestrian movement.
The department acknowledged the TVC, Deputy Commissioner’s office, Shillong Municipal Board, Shillong Traffic Police, vendor associations and other stakeholders for their role in the process.
