Daijiworld Media Network – Mangaluru
Mangaluru, Oct 17: Bringing a five-month dispute over the Sunday Bazaar to an end, the Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) has approved a new vending site on State Bank–Rosario Church Road for 95 verified street vendors, allowing them to resume business from Sunday.
The decision was taken by the Town Vending Committee, paving the way for the vendors to operate from a designated location after months of uncertainty and repeated eviction drives at their previous site outside Kudmul Ranga Rao Town Hall.
The dispute arose following public complaints over the bazaar’s operations at the Town Hall location. For five months, vendors faced weekly enforcement drives by the corporation, disrupting their livelihoods and leaving them uncertain about where they could continue their business.
B K Imthiyaz, honorary president of the Dakshina Kannada District Street Vendors Association, said the vendors had found it difficult to sustain their livelihoods because of the corporation’s repeated action against the market.
He said complaints from the public had led to weekly raids at the Town Hall site over the past five months, making it increasingly difficult for vendors to carry on their trade.
Welcoming the Town Vending Committee’s decision, Imthiyaz said the approved relocation would give the 95 verified vendors a designated and authorised space to conduct business without the recurring threat of eviction.
He said the association had endured considerable difficulties before the committee agreed to shift the bazaar to Rosario Church Road, ensuring vending space for all 95 verified vendors.
MCC commissioner Rahul Ratnam Pandey said the corporation had constituted the Town Vending Committee in accordance with the law to take decisions on street vending and resolve issues related to vendors.
He explained that the committee had been established under the relevant legislation to oversee such decisions and address matters concerning street vending.
Confirming the relocation schedule, Pandey said the vendors would begin operating from the new site on Sunday. The designated vending spaces will cover available areas along Rosario Church Road, including former parking spaces, as well as a stretch near the second cross by the maidan.
The allocation is intended to accommodate all 95 verified vendors while addressing concerns about public convenience and ensuring the orderly use of roads and public spaces.
The relocation follows months of friction over vending outside Town Hall, where the weekly market had drawn complaints and prompted repeated action by the corporation. The approval of an alternative site is expected to provide vendors with greater certainty while allowing the civic body to regulate street vending more systematically.
With the new location approved and operations scheduled to resume on Sunday, the decision marks a resolution to the prolonged dispute over the Sunday Bazaar and offers relief to the 95 vendors who had been struggling to continue their trade.