GS IMPACT: Ahmedabad Civic Body to Move Vendors into ₹68-Crore Markets After Footpaths Remain Choked

The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has ordered its estate department to forcefully relocate street vendors into designated spaces, following revelations that vendor stalls worth ₹68 crore are lying abandoned while city roads remain severely congested.

The directive came during a Standing Committee meeting on Thursday, triggered directly by an investigative report published in Gujarat Samachar Digital on August 16. The report highlighted how 19 newly constructed vegetable and fruit markets remain completely empty while vendors continue to encroach upon footpaths and roads outside.

Stalls Assigned via Draws to Be Occupied Compulsorily

Standing Committee Chairman Kamlesh Patel instructed officials to ensure that vendors who were allocated stalls through official lotteries operate strictly from inside their designated market units.

• Strict Action Ahead: Earlier attempts to persuade vendors into using the allocated structures failed. The civic body will now use police and enforcement personnel to clear street obstructions and force stallholders into their assigned bays.

• Crackdown on Unauthorised Hawkers: Vendors operating on footpaths without valid allotment permits will face immediate eviction drives across all zones.

• Construction Halted: AMC has suspended the construction of planned new market complexes until existing facilities are fully operational.

• Vicious Cycle Broken: Civic officials acknowledged a structural deadlock—shoppers avoid empty markets, forcing vendors back onto the roads, which in turn leaves the facilities deserted.

Millions Spent as Encroachments Persist

AMC had initially planned 31 dedicated vegetable markets across the city to clear major traffic bottlenecks and provide citizens with centralised shopping zones. Out of these, 19 facilities are fully built, but lack of enforcement left them unutilised.

The civic body's failure to enforce compliance previously rendered the ₹68-crore public investment ineffective. Officials now hope that simultaneously clearing illegal pavement hawkers and compelling registered stallholders into their bays will drive footfall inside the built structures and clear choked arteries across Ahmedabad.