Kathmandu, October 30

Kathmandu Metropolitan City has implemented a policy of not returning the goods and logistics confiscated from footpath vendors and putting them on auction.

Pampha Pariyar, a footpath vendor, filed a complaint against KMC in Hello Sarkar, a grievance redressal hotline, at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers over confiscation of her cart on September 26. The OPMCM wrote to the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration to settle the complaint. The MoFAGA asked KMC why the cart was not returned to Pariyar on September 27.

In reply, Ganesh Prasad Thapaliya, chief of Administration Division at KMC, told its line ministry that the metropolis had adopted a policy of confiscating all goods and logistics from footpath vendors and auctioning them, and hence the cart was not returned to her.

Thapaliya said KMC had recently made a decision to this effect to discourage footpath encroachment in Kathmandu.

KMC mobilises city police to implement this policy. Earlier, KMC would snatch the wares from vendors and impose a fine of Rs 500 on offenders before returning the goods. KMC said the fine failed to keep vendors off sidewalks. Footpaths are often occupied by small-time businesses as the vendors are not required to pay any fee. Footpath encroachment in major as well as inner roads is contributing to traffic congestion and road accidents, according to Metropolitan Traffic Police Division. Moreover, pedestrians have no option but to walk on the road risking their lives.

Pedestrians spilling over onto the roads due to encroachment of footpaths is common sight in Sundhara, Chabahil, New Baneshwor, Bhotahiti, Ratna Park, Koteshwor, Swoyambhu, Kalimati, Kalanki, Balaju, Sitapaila, Gongabu and other places in Kathmandu.

On November 2014, the Ministry of Home Affairs had declared that the government successfully removed street vendors from footpaths in Kathmandu valley. It claimed that as many as 16,664 footpath shops had been removed from the streets as part of a crackdown on street vendors.

However, the move did not last long and street vendors started encroaching on the city’s sidewalks again, hindering pedestrian movement and ruining the aesthetics of the city due to lack of monitoring on the part of the concerned authorities.