Bhubaneswar: In another stepping stone for the Smart City, the authorities have started erecting preliminary vending zones from Master Canteen to Rajmahal at Janpath Marg in the capital here.
In a joint working with the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) and Bhubaneswar Smart City Limited (BSCL) the Janpath has been selected under the smart-city project on area-based development which will see more than 30 smart vending zones in its entire vicinity.
“We are setting up pilot vending zones at present. These are under sample checking stage and once the locations and contract are provided by the BMC these vending zones will have solar operated kiosks,” stated Bijay Kumar Sahoo, General Manager at BSCL.
Mentioning the project as city-wide plan for street vendors’ rehabilitation and relocation, Sahoo also added that the owners will get a unique identity card (UIC) certified by the BMC. “This will help in regularisation and provide a social security to street vendors,” he said.
Falling under the Smart City proposal, vending zones of different categories ranging from fruits, handicrafts to Omfed and Opofled will be allotted by the BMC in the areas of Satya Nagar Institutional Core, Railway Station and Master Canteen in Janpath.
“We have organised a team that will soon be conducting a survey to identify the list of vendors operating their business at Janpath. Once done, we will be allotting them the kiosks based on their need and operations,” an official at the BMC stated.
The move to reorganise vendors has come in the backdrop of the 79.5-crore BSCL’s project of redeveloping the Janpath Road. The two-year plan of improving the area’s aesthetics is already seeing major re-designs for the smart path.
“The move is certainly welcomed by us. The new booths can possibly solve the lack of space and improve hygiene at public places. This can also bring a certain transparency between us and the authorities,” said Gyan Kumar Dash an Omfed vendor at Janpath.
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