Anti-encroachment drive: Hundreds of vendors but no place to put their stands

The municipal authorities have orders to clear out encroachments.

PESHAWAR: Khair Jan, a resident of Pajaggi Road the sole breadwinner for his household, is desperately looking for a job so he can feed his family of four.

Jan used to work outside the New General Bus Stand, selling sugarcane juice on the footpath. His employer would pay him Rs400 per 12-hour shift which was enough for Jan to run his household.

Now, Jan has debts to pay and a young girl to educate. He owes Rs4,000 in rent to his landlord for the previous month. “I don’t have any idea what to do. How do I feed my family, pay the rent and other utility bills?”

“Without a job I am a man of no worth in my own eyes,” a distressed Jan told The Express Tribune as he ruffled the hair of his six-year-old daughter, Sakina, whom he had planned to enroll in school this year.

“I have never been to school, I can’t read or write,” said the man who is in his late twenties. “The only thing I can do is manual labour, but all my plans have been shattered as I lost my job,” worried Jan. He explained his physical health did not allow him to do hard labour such as working at a construction site.

Reclaiming space

Jan is not alone in his plight, there are hundreds more who share the same fate after the Peshawar Municipal Corporation and district administration launched a series of anti-encroachment operations in the city.

In the past two months, tens of vendors and cart pushers have been sent to jail and fined for illegally setting up carts on footpaths. These often hinder the flow of vehicles on roads and create problems for pedestrians.

More than 300 people lost their businesses and more than 600 were left jobless in Hashatnagri, a busy commercial area. Vendors would usually set up their stalls under the Faqirabad Overhead Bridge and sell vegetables, fruits and other household commodities at low prices.

Hunting for deals

Selling commodities on push carts allows vendors to cut their costs and sell the products at a lower retail price. This is possible as the cart vendors do not need to pay rent, utility bills and other taxes associated with a regularised business, or adhere to quality control.

Roadside vendors attract customers seeking good deals, especially as the cost of living continues to rise. With Ramazan right round the corner, people will be on the lookout for the ‘better deal’ as the cost of perishable commodities tends to spike in the month of fasting.

A solution-oriented approach?

When asked about an alternative space for cart vendors to display their wares, Deputy Commissioner Peshawar Javed Marwat said so far there were no such solutions. No other place has been allocated for push carts to set up business.

“We are following the government’s orders. We have been strictly told to clear the city of illegal encroachments – these mar the city’s beauty and cause traffic congestion,” maintained the commissioner. “Our anti-encroachment operation is not against a single person or their livelihood, but against the illegal settlements of vendors and shopping mall owners.

“Anti-encroachment drives have been only carried out in areas where commercial activities are prohibited to facilitate residents, all the while keeping consumer interests in mind.”

Jan on the other hand was caught unawares – he had no knowledge of encroachment laws or any prohibition against commercial activities in areas not designated for conducting business. “If the government cannot provide us jobs, then why are they destroying our means of income – businesses which we established from our hard-earned money?” questioned the unemployed father.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 8^th, 2013.