Vijayawada Municipal Corporation’s help sought in ending woes of Nakkala community

Stringent rules hinder Nakkala community from selling goods on public spaces, facing objections from authorities and shop owners.

The stringent rules regarding the usage of public spaces such as footpaths, pavements and thoroughfares have been a hindrance for the Nakkala community and their business over the past five years.

People from the community occupy spaces in front of shops or on the footpaths to sell miscellaneous items, such as combs, mirrors and other plastic items, in addition to selling Bhavani and Ayyappa maalas (beaded necklaces), locally knownas poosalu — for which they earn anywhere between ₹200-₹500 per day.

However, in the past few years, they have faced objections from shop owners, the municipal corporation and the police department for carrying out their business in public spaces. “We have been selling these items on Besant Road and in One Town for more than 40 years now. But these days, we are being asked to remove our stalls and set them up elsewhere. If we move to major thoroughfares, the corporation has an objection, and if we sell them in front of another shop, the shop owner has a problem,” said Heero Sankar, who used to sell plastic items on Besant Road until he was asked to remove his stall.

Mr. Sankar, who remained in the city and now makes an earning through performing marriages in his community, charging somewhere between ₹1,000-₹1,500 per ceremony, said that many from his community have left the city in search of work and those who stayed have gotten into begging or ragpicking.

“Recently, a man from the community was picked up by the police for allegedly killing a street dog. He agreed to do the ‘job’ for a sum of ₹1,000. Since the community is associated with hunting, the society still seeks their help in getting rid of menaces, and if they had other means of income, they would not be going back to it,” said Rama Devi, who works with the Dalit Bahujan Resource Centre located in Guntur.

Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) Commissioner Swapnil Dinkar Pundkar said that the street vendors can either sell at Eat Street or Bhavani Ghat, adding that those who do not comply with the rules have to pay a penalty of anywhere between ₹50-₹500, depending on the area. “If their stalls are obstructing traffic, we have to book a case for causing public inconvenience,” he said.

“We are not familiar with other places of the city since Besant Road was where my parents and grandparents set up their stalls too,” said Mr. Sankar on being asked why they do not move to authorised places in the city. Detailing how the number of stalls came down to 30 from 150 in the past, he requested the corporation to help the community by providing a solution to their predicament.