UP IN ARMS: Roadside vendors staging a dharna in front of the MCH office in Hyderabad on Monday protesting against the move to shift them. — Photo: Satish H.

HYDERABAD: The Bharatiya Janata Party and Telangana Rashtra Samiti joined hands to lend support to the Bhagyanagar Partri Thela Hawkers and Dabba Owners Sangh, fighting for the rights of the street and footpath vendors in the twin cities.

They appealed to the Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad to mark out hawking zones in the twin cities and show alternative places to vendors issued with eviction notices following directions by the High Court for pedestrians' safety.

Memorandum

In a memorandum submitted to MCH Commissioner Sanjay Jaju here on Monday, former Union Minister and BJP general secretary Bandaru Dattatreya, former Minister and MLA N. Narasimha Reddy, MLA G. Kishan Reddy, Sangh president Baddam Bal Reddy and general secretary A.G. Kandlikar pleaded for `protection' of livelihood of vendors.

The leaders sought issuance of identity cards to hawkers and wanted MCH and the Police Commissioner not to evict them till they were rehabilitated. Mr. Jaju said MCH was duty bound to implement the Court orders and in some high-density places like Secunderabad railway station and Mehdipatnam, footpaths needed to be restored to pedestrians. Earlier, street vendors led by BJP and TRS leaders congregated at the MCH main gate to protest against the eviction orders.

Addressing the gathering, Mr. Dattatreya said about a lakh vendors in the city would be affected by the move.

Though the High Court had given sufficient time, eviction notices were being issued in haste, he alleged. The Government was urged to constitute a committee of civic officials, traffic police and public representatives to discuss rehabilitation plans for hawkers. They threatened to launch an agitation if the vendors' interests were not protected.

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