Urban News

The Hindu 10.02.2010

Scheme for creating vendor zones taking shape

Special Correspondent

Photo:S. Siva Saravanan

INITIATING CHANGE: Collector P. Umanath addresses a meeting with pavement vendors in the city on a scheme to create zones for them. —

COIMBATORE: A scheme to create pavement vendor zones is taking shape in the city, as per the guidelines issued under the National Policy on Vendors, 2004. From the present system of vendors setting up shop wherever they want to, they will have to do business only in zones earmarked for it.

Three zones will be created. The red zone will have no vendors and the green zone will have spaces allocated to them. As for the yellow zone, vendors can do business only during permitted hours or days.

The streamlining of the pavement vendors system will be done by taking the interests of the pedestrians and motorists and also the livelihood concerns of the vendors. As the first step, the district administration, Coimbatore Corporation and the city police heard the views of the vendors at a meeting on Tuesday.

Initiatives for Change Centre for Governance, a non-Governmental organisation, has joined the Corporation in carrying out a survey across the city to identify the number of street vendors in the city. The organisation’s co-ordinator S. Baskar explained at the meeting that studying the vendors’ socio-economic conditions, identifying places for the vending zones, formulating guidelines and constituting a committee to oversee street vending were the other tasks.

At a packed-to-capacity auditorium of the Corporation at R.S. Puram, the vendors received with a thunderous applause District Collector P. Umanath’s assurance that the exercise being embarked upon was not to put down street vendors but only to regulate the system and provide with better conditions.

The Collector, however, told them that space for doing only business would be provided. “Do not assume that we will grant patta for ownership of the earmarked place. And, you cannot sublet the space allotted to you,” he said. The Collector pointed out that the entire scheme was aimed at accommodating both the vendors and the public. “People and vehicles need enough space to move, just as you need space to earn a livelihood,” he said.

Corporation Commissioner Anshul Mishra said an inclusive approach was central to the entire scheme. Another thunderous applause broke out when he said: “My vendor friends”. One of the vendors near the dais remarked: “This is refreshingly different from the harassment we are usually subjected to.”

Stating that regulation of any system was vital, Mr. Mishra told the vendors that the administration, Corporation and the police would have to take into consideration the concerns of the pedestrians and the vendors.

Mr. Mishra said: “We want you to have a secure livelihood. That is why we are inviting your views. Our attempt is to provide a legal status to pavement vendors. Facilities such as mobile toilets will be provided in order to ensure hygiene in the vendor zones,” he said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) P. Nagarajan said: “We have to balance your livelihood concerns with the expectations of the public in terms of providing them with movement space.”

Till the new scheme was implemented, vendors should not impede pedestrian and vehicle movement in their existing places, he said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime and Traffic) N. Kamini said the police wanted to be a part of an initiative to improve the conditions for the vendors and the public.

Vendors who attended the meeting said they wanted to continue in the existing places as shifting would affect their income. Representatives of non-Governmental organisations called for hygiene in the vendor zones.

The Hindu 10.02.2010

Unhygienic toilets cause hardship to schoolchildren

Meera Srinivasan

CHENNAI: Students in some of the Corporation schools in the city are in a fix. They cannot use the toilet when they need to, due to lack of hygiene and poor maintenance.

The stench near the primary block in the Corporation-run school in Saidapet was unbearable. Going past the toilet block to get to the headmistress’ office is a very difficult task. But hundreds of children have little choice.

With the entire area outside the toilet wet with water leaking from one of the pipes, the space clearly flouts even the basic norms of hygiene. “I don’t use the toilet everyday, but today, I had to,” said a class VI student.

The toilets at another school in West Mambalam were not usable for weeks together because of a sewage block. “I complained to the engineer in the Works Department [of the Corporation] several times, but he kept telling us that they did not have funds,” said the headmaster.

Later, thanks to a school function that the Mayor was to participate in, the Works Department official was forced to attend to the issue, fearing that the students might complain to the Mayor.

“In the case of government schools some delay is understandable since they have to coordinate with the Public Works Department. But in the case of Corporation schools, why should action be delayed when the civic body has a Works Department to look at these matters?” he asked.

Vasantha Balakrishnan, former headmistress, Presidency Government Girls Higher Secondary School, said that about five years ago, the toilets in many government and local body schools were in very bad condition. “However, things have improved now. In addition to the School Education Department’s efforts, organisations such as the Rotary and Lions Clubs have contributed significantly.”

Emphasising the need for proper toilet facilities, she said that school heads should push for adequate facilities. “Girls, particularly those who have reached puberty, cannot manage otherwise.”

Agreeing with her, the head of a girls’ school in Central Chennai said some girls even dropped out of school because of this.

“Sometimes, even our staff toilets are pathetic. We know the difficulty faced by students, but we are helpless.” she said, adding that teachers put in their own money to buy disinfectants.

“I almost never use the toilet at school. If I go in, I’ll feel nauseous,” said a high school girl of the school.

Health issues

The habit of refraining from using the toilets could have serious medical implications, according to Sarada Suresh, Director, Institute of Child Health.

“We do hear of many children not using the toilets in school. They also end up drinking less water. But this could cause formation of stones in the kidney,” she said, referring to the increasing number of cases of children with small stones in the kidney.

“Also girls having their periods should change their napkins often. They might get reproductive track infections due to poor hygiene. In fact, lack of hygiene can lead to host of skin and other infections, too,” she said.

When contacted, Mayor M. Subramanian said: “We are particular about the infrastructure in schools. If students, teachers or heads bring up specific issues, we will certainly attend to them immediately.”

Corporation Commissioner Rajesh Lakhoni said: “We have outsourced labour for cleaning and maintenance now. School heads should supervise their work. We are also taking up regular inspections.”