500 street vendors resume business

Coimbatore: Close to 500 street vendors resumed their business across the city on Sunday. Since the civic body has prohibited them from doing business on pavements, many of them are in the process of finding a pushcart.
On Tuesday, they had obtained permission from the city corporation to resume their business activities, which had come to a grinding halt two months ago when lockdown was enforced to contain the spread of Covid-19.
While granting permission, the city corporation had directed the vendors to adhere to precautionary measures like social distancing and disinfection of their business premises. The civic body had also warned to revoke the nod upon violation of guidelines.
P Mani, district president of Coimbatore Street Vendors’ Association, said, “The city corporation has permitted only pushcart vendors. So, the ones having them resumed their business today. Some of the vendors, who had been selling vegetables and fruits in residential areas, were stationary on main roads such as Mettupalayam Road in the city.”
In the case of vendors, who had been selling toys, clothes and other items on pavements, he said they had advised them to rent a pushcart to resume their business immediately. “More number of vendors are expected to hit the streets in the coming days.”
Sivakumar, a vendor from Venkatapuram, said the business was dull. “Due to financial crisis, I couldn’t procure the quantity of vegetables that I used to before lockdown. Yet, I managed to sell only half of that.” Pointing out that he used to earn anywhere between Rs 300 and Rs 400 a day before lockdown, he said he earned only half that on Sunday.
Chitra, another vendor from Velandipalayam, said, “While I was selling vegetables in pushcarts, I had stopped doing business during lockdown as police didn’t allow us to park our carts at a place. We had to visit at least 10 streets a day to clock a moderate business. It was difficult for me to push the cart throughout a day.” The woman said she was confident that their business would pick up momentum in the coming days.