Bengaluru’s street vendors have announced the shutdown of street vending and a mass protest on Wednesday, July 8, against the illegal eviction drive by the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA).
Karnataka Progressive Street Vendors Union, Karunadu Street Vendors' Organizations Federation, Nava Karnataka State Street Vendors' Union, Street Vendors' Union, Roadside Vendors Federation and the Karnataka Women Street Vendors Association Federation have given a call for a shutdown.
The call has come amid the ongoing “Safe Footpath Campaign” taking place from July 1 to 10, under which authorities are clearing encroachments from about 2000 km of priority arterial and sub-arterial roads in Bengaluru.
Vendors say officials have been evicting hawkers, seizing or destroying pushcarts, tables, weighing machines, tarpaulins and stock, and halting trade in several neighbourhoods, without prior notice or proper seizure lists.
While the government justifies the “safe footpath” drive as necessary to give pedestrians safe, unobstructed walking space and reduce accidents, vendor unions argue that the GBA’s actions violate many provisions of the Street Vendors Act of 2014.
Activists and vendor bodies also allege that evictions are happening without the mandatory lawful notice period, without alternative vending spaces, and without following due process for seizure and compensation. They also pointed out that many vendors who have availed PM-SVANIDHI scheme loans were left out of the recent surveys (October 2024 to February 2025) and denied identity cards, making them helpless.
The Joint Committee of street vendors’ unions is demanding an immediate halt to the eviction drive and permission for the displaced vendors to resume business at their original vending locations, with temporary roadside trading allowed where footpaths are blocked until the Town Vending Committee takes a final decision. They are also calling for full implementation of the 2014 Act, including a fresh survey of street vendors followed by issuance of identity cards to all eligible vendors.
Other key demands include the return of all confiscated goods and carts, compensation for losses caused by sudden enforcement, widening of footpaths across the city, and action against the “real encroachers” such as illegal parking, abandoned vehicles, private gardens, electrical transformers, ramps and shop displays that narrow walking space.
The unions have also sought immediate talks between the officials and vendor representatives to ensure the demands are legally followed.
This article was written by a student interning with TNM.