On Thursday, street vendors from across the Valley protested in front of the Kathmandu Metropolitan City office in Sundhara.
Street vendors have been pleading with the city to let them operate their businesses. Mayor Balendra Shah has taken a firm stance against street vendors who encroach on city roads’ footpaths and pedestrian walkways.
The City, led by Shah, has removed street vendors from their usual location and prohibited their fiscal activities.
Street vendors have grouped together under the banner of the Independent Nationalist Self-employed Labour Struggle Committee of the General Federation of Nepalese Trade Union (GEFONT) Nepal. Rajkumar Shrestha, secretary-general of the Nepal Street Vendor’s Trade Union, said, “Festive season is here, but the City has forbidden us from operating our businesses.”
The Union estimates that there are about 10,000 street vendors supporting their families and running their businesses.
The protesters have presented the City with a seven-point demand, which includes, but is not limited to, giving them identity cards and allowing them to continue operating in their respective neighborhoods until Dashain and Tihar.
They claim that the protesters will deliver a memo to Shah, the mayor of the city.
Shrestha, who facilitated Thursday’s protest, stated that if the City does not address their immediate problems, the street vendors will escalate the protest after Tihar.
“We support Shah’s efforts to clean up the city and prevent the encroachment of public spaces, but he should have first made provisions for us to survive,” Shrestha said.
