Patna: The National Association of Street Vendors of India (Nasvi) on Saturday asked the district administration not to remove street vendors from any area, rather help them operate in an organised manner unless vending zones are demarcated for them and they are relocated there.

Nasvi officials said the administration can follow the Boring Canal Road model, wherein Nasvi had helped street workers identify certain zones where they can work without hampering traffic. All these things were highlighted in the coordination committee's meeting of Nasvi at a city hotel on Saturday.

Nasvi also sought the implementation of the Street Vendors Act, 2014, and the Bihar Street Vendor (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Rule, 2017.

Nasvi's state co-ordinator Rakes Tripathi welcomed the state government's announcement regarding creation of vending zones in the city. "However, the state government needs to shift vendors in the 14 vending zones that have been approved by the town vending committee without delay. Also, places wherein vending zones have not been identified yet, the work for demarking the zones should be initiated soon," said Tripathi.

Tripathi spoke of about the usefulness of vending zones saying that it would hugely benefit residents as they would get their needful articles at a designated place. "Creation of vending zones will also ensure cleanliness in the city as the garbage generated from vendors can be managed in a better way as they could be collected from the designated vending zones," said Tripathi.

Nasvi's city manager Vishal Anand sought the identification of street vendors and handing over of identity cards without any delay. President of Patna District Footpath Seller Association Arun Kumar, one of the participants in the meeting, warned the state government that in case the government does not fulfil the street vendors' demands, around 25,000 street vendors working in Patna would be forced to call a mass protest.