Safe Footpath campaign comes into conflict with street vendors in Bengaluru

Raju KM, who has been selling earrings, hair clips and other accessories at Malleshwaram 8th Cross for the past 15 years, was one of those evicted last week during the ongoing ‘Safe Footpath Campaign’ in Bengaluru. “Now they are calling us intruders. We had to fight to prevent the police from confiscating our goods because it would have led to huge losses for us. We are now doing business on some small internal roads, scared like thieves,” he said.

The ongoing campaign, while hailed by many for removing various obstacles preventing pedestrians from driving, has come into conflict with street vendors. Hundreds of street vendors have been evicted and goods confiscated by hawkers in a drive over the past week.

However, such eviction drives met stiff resistance in several areas like Vijayanagar, Kengeri, RR Nagar, NR Colony and so on.

S. Babu, a street vendor in Vijaynagar since 1999 and also the president of the Karnataka Pragatipara Beedi Vyaparigala Sangha, said that for two days, civic officials tried to evict street vendors in Vijayanagar, including him, but had to back down in haste due to protests. “I have an ID card according to the old survey. I am registered under the new survey, because of which they still don’t give us ID cards. Yet they call us invaders and try to evict us,” he was angry.

No sales zones

Greater Bengaluru Development Minister Krishna Byre Gowda announced that “at least 1,500 km of arterial and sub-arterial roads, around 10% of the city’s road network, will be declared no-vending zones” and defended the move by arguing that street vendors were only asked to relocate to internal roads.

However, this did not go down well with the vendors, who raised the issue of violations of the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014, a law passed by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.

‘four breaches’

The street vendor union recorded four violations. “According to the law, no street vendor can be evicted until the survey is completed and identity cards are issued. The 2024 survey registered only 34,000 street vendors even though more than 80,000 street vendors had taken vendor loans under the PM SVANidhi scheme. The survey deliberately underestimated vendors in the city,” Mr. Babu said.

The Joint Action Committee of Street Vendors points out that only the Municipal Vending Committees, created under the 2014 law and which include representatives of street vendors, cannot declare any vending zones. “Several city vending committees that have been formed have expired in 2023 and no new committee has yet been formed under the new corporations. How can the minister unilaterally declare no vending zones?” the unions asked.

They also pointed out that no notices were served prior to the eviction and officials did not provide written details of the seized goods.

The street vendor union recorded four violations. | Photo credit: File photo

Street vendors versus pedestrians

Sneha Nandihal of ‘I Change Indiranagar’ said they have been fighting against encroachment on footpaths, including street vendors, for several years. “In Indiranagar, we once found a man working for an IT major who was running a small business as a side hustle. Local politicians are renting pedestrian space as if it were their property. This notion that all street vendors are poor is not true and is being abused. People have stopped walking on the footpaths because they have been occupied. We have cleared some of them. We welcome continued driving in the city,” she said to create a civic zone, she said.

However, street vendor unions argued that pitting pedestrians against street vendors was a false binary. “Most pedestrian deaths occur while crossing roads,” they pointed out, advocating wider paths for pedestrians and street vendors.

The street vendors’ union also pointed out that no notices were served before the evictions and officials did not provide written details of the confiscated goods. | Photo credit: File photo

Hawkers strike on July 8

Six street vendor unions have come together to form the Street Vendors Joint Action Committee and have announced a hawker strike in Bengaluru on Wednesday July 8 to oppose the ongoing evictions in Bengaluru.

Their demands include an immediate halt to evictions, allowing evicted hawkers to re-occupy the same sites, return of their goods seized by civic officials and full implementation of the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihoods and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014.

(This is the second in a series in which The Hindu looks at what ails Bengaluru’s pavements, the challenges faced by various stakeholders and what civic agencies are doing to make them safer.)

Published – 06 Jul 2026 19:39 IST