The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has issued closure notices to at least five weekly markets in the past month, asking them to suspend operations indefinitely for violating the single-use plastic (SUP) ban.
Shukra bazar or Friday market in Keshavpuram is the last market to be closed. MCD issued a closure notice on February 20 and said that on February 17 (Friday), the MCD team found a large number of vendors using polythene bags up to 120 microns.
“Due to the violation of the directives issued in connection with the SUP, the weekly Friday bazaar at Keshavpuram is suspended with immediate effect until further orders,” said a notice issued by the Keshavpuram Zonal Administrative Officer.
100-Day Action Plan
According to the MCD spokesperson, the zonal authorities have been conducting market drives as well as weekly bazaars in Keshavpuram as part of a 100-day action plan against SUP. Last month, the MCD had suspended the Tuesday weekly bazaar in Pitampura and the Wednesday bazaar near Kashmir’s Saraswati Vihar flats to “send a message” to all weekly bazaars and markets to ensure compliance with the ban. “The suspended bazaars could function after one week if they followed the ban,” said an MCD spokesperson. He added that later two other bazaars in Keshavpuram were closed.
The National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI) estimates that there are at least 150,000 vendors in the city whose livelihood depends on the weekly markets, most of which are held in East and West Delhi. While the number of weekly markets has grown exponentially, the number announced is 280.
Meanwhile, the vendors’ association claimed that all the vendors in these markets are being harassed and penalized due to the actions of a few people. “If 10 vendors are using plastic bags, the MCD cannot give a collective penalty to all the 300 street vendors in the weekly market,” said Arvind Singh, NASVI coordinator.
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