Street vendors should be managed, not to be removed: urban expert Dr. Joshi

As the move of the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has become viral in social media, urban planning expert Dr. Jibgar Joshi has expressed the view that lower income people should not be isolated from the urban area. Dragging the smaller street vendors out from the urban area by using force is not appropriate, he pointed out.

The Metropolis should provide them with alternatives before removing them from the street, he added. These street vendors and the poor and marginalized people staying in the river side have become part of the urban life, he pointed out. The rich people of the urban area need their service to make their life easy and comfortable, he added. If we remove all the poor people from the street, who will do the jobs of the labourers?, he questioned.

“The metropolis has no right to make them cry,” he pointed out. The KMC has the responsibility to manage them instead of removing them from the city, according to Dr. Joshi. Nepal has the beautiful tradition of poor and rich people living together, which is our beauty, which we should not destroy, he maintained. “The acts of the KMC are encouraging division between the rich and the poor, which is very dangerous for our society,” says Dr. Joshi.

The so called rich people need the poor and marginalized people living in the urban area as they are providing valuable service to the city dwellers, he pointed out. If the KM tries to make the metropolis free from lower income group it will create chaotic situation, he added.

The activities of KMC’s new mayor Balen Shah created mixed reaction among the people. While some citydwellers have welcomed the move in one hand while on the other hand people have criticized the move. Removing landless squatters from Thapathali river bank and dragging out street vendors is not the right decision of the metropolis until and unless they are provided with option, they have pointed out.