Ex-MLA writes to Mayor; Urges to arrange rehabilitation of evicted vendors in Agartala

Former MLA of Tripura, Tapas Dey on Sunday wrote a letter to the Mayor of Agartala Municipal Corporation (AMC) Dipak Majumder urging him to arrange for proper rehabilitation of evicted vendors in Agartala city.

Dey, in his letter said that the decision to cleanse and evict the unauthorized vendors of vegetables, fruits and fish from Gangail Road at Lake Chowmuhani market, with the laudable aim of constructing an all-weather road and pragmatically expanding the market, is indeed a welcome one. The vision of a structured and streamlined trading environment is commendable, an emblem of progress.

“However, what casts a shadow over this noble endeavor is the glaring absence of a humane and thoughtful alternative arrangement for rehabilitating these vendors. These individuals, many of them tribal vendors from places like Taidu, relied solely on selling fish, vegetables, and fruits as their means of subsistence. It is nothing short of inhumanity that they have been driven out without any proper planning or provision for their livelihoods. The planning of the eviction was fundamentally flawed. The evicted vendors, stripped of their rightful places, have found themselves once again doing business at their former location, exposed to the scorching sun and drenched by relentless rains. This paradoxical scenario begs the question: why were they evicted at all if they were to return under such dire conditions? Has not the very purpose of the eviction been thus frustrated? It is evident that the decision was made in a moment of rashness, devoid of the careful consideration that such a significant action demands”, he said.

Dey said that for the sake of humanity and fair play, to rehabilitate the evicted vendors immediately.

“Let us not be remembered as those who crushed the vulnerable under the wheels of progress, but as those who uplifted them with compassion and justice. Furthermore, I beseech you to grant these vendors soft loans with the minimum possible interest, enabling them to rebuild their lives and live with their heads held high, in dignity and esteem”, he added.