Mangaluru: The Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) has approved a new vending site on State Bank–Rosario Church Road for 95 verified street vendors, bringing a five-month dispute over the Sunday Bazaar to an end and allowing them to resume business from Sunday.
The decision was taken by the Town Vending Committee, providing relief to vendors who had faced repeated eviction drives and uncertainty over their livelihoods after being displaced from their previous location outside Kudmul Ranga Rao Town Hall.
The relocation is expected to provide the vendors with a designated space to conduct their business while enabling the civic body to regulate street vending and address concerns raised by the public.
Five-month dispute over Sunday Bazaar
The dispute arose following complaints from members of the public about the operation of the Sunday Bazaar outside Town Hall. Over the past five months, the MCC had conducted weekly enforcement drives at the site, disrupting the vendors’ business activities.
The repeated action left the traders uncertain about where they could continue selling their goods and maintain their livelihoods. For many of the affected vendors, the weekly market is an important source of income, making the lack of a permanent vending location a significant concern.
B K Imthiyaz, honorary president of the Dakshina Kannada District Street Vendors Association, said the repeated enforcement drives had made it increasingly difficult for vendors to sustain their businesses.
He said public complaints had resulted in weekly raids at the Town Hall location, forcing the vendors to deal with recurring uncertainty over their ability to operate.
The association had been seeking a solution that would allow the traders to continue their business in an authorised location without facing repeated eviction.
Town Vending Committee approves relocation
The Town Vending Committee has now approved Rosario Church Road as the alternative location for the Sunday Bazaar, with space allocated for all 95 verified vendors.
Welcoming the decision, Imthiyaz said the association had faced considerable difficulties during the five-month dispute before the committee agreed to the relocation.
He said the approval would provide the vendors with a designated and authorised place to conduct their trade, reducing the uncertainty caused by repeated enforcement action at the previous site.
The decision is also intended to establish a more organised arrangement for the weekly market, balancing the livelihood needs of street vendors with the concerns of residents and other road users.
For the 95 verified vendors, the relocation represents an opportunity to resume their commercial activities under an arrangement approved by the civic authorities.
MCC outlines vending arrangements
MCC Commissioner Rahul Ratnam Pandey said the corporation had constituted the Town Vending Committee in accordance with the law to take decisions concerning street vending and resolve issues involving vendors.
He explained that the committee had been established under the relevant legislation to oversee vending-related decisions and address disputes arising from street vending activities.
Confirming the relocation schedule, Pandey said the vendors would begin operating from the new location on Sunday.
The designated vending spaces will cover available areas along Rosario Church Road, including former parking spaces. Another stretch near the second cross by the maidan will also be used to accommodate the traders.
The allocation is intended to provide sufficient space for all 95 verified vendors within the approved location.
The arrangement is expected to enable the corporation to regulate the market more systematically while addressing concerns about public convenience and the orderly use of roads and other public spaces.
The relocation also provides a defined alternative to the Town Hall site, where complaints over the bazaar’s operations had repeatedly led to enforcement action.
Balancing vendors’ livelihoods and public convenience
Street vending remains an important source of livelihood for many small traders, particularly those who depend on weekly markets to sell their goods and earn an income.
At the same time, vending activities in busy urban areas can raise concerns over pedestrian movement, parking availability, traffic and the use of public spaces.
The dispute over the Sunday Bazaar highlighted the challenge of balancing these competing needs. While the vendors sought the opportunity to continue their trade, complaints about the previous location prompted the corporation to take repeated action.
The Town Vending Committee’s decision to approve an alternative site offers a way to address both concerns through a designated vending arrangement.
By providing space for all 95 verified vendors, the relocation is expected to give traders greater certainty while allowing the civic body to manage the market at an identified location.
The success of the new arrangement will depend on the vendors operating within the designated areas and the corporation ensuring that the approved spaces are used in an orderly manner.
Vendors to resume business on Sunday
With the new location approved and operations scheduled to begin on Sunday, the decision marks a significant development in the prolonged dispute over the Sunday Bazaar.
The relocation brings relief to the 95 verified vendors who had struggled to continue their business during months of uncertainty. It also gives the MCC an opportunity to regulate the weekly market through a designated site rather than repeated enforcement drives at the former location.
The Town Vending Committee’s intervention has provided a formal solution to the immediate dispute, with the new vending spaces expected to accommodate the affected traders while addressing public concerns.
For the vendors, the priority will now be to resume business and restore the income disrupted by the repeated action over the past five months. For the civic body, the challenge will be to ensure that the new arrangement remains orderly and meets the needs of both traders and the public.