Vendors working at the three respective sheds of Khwairamband Keithel on Saturday aired their grievances concerning the losses they have incurred with their businesses and blamed the streetside vendors for the same.
Holding a protest at Khwairamband Keithel, the vendors appealed to the authorities concerned to save the Khwairamband Keithel from becoming defunct as their businesses are being taken over by street vendors.
“The same items are sold on the spaces and alleys in and around three sheds of Khwairamband Keithel by the street vendors,” claimed the vendors of the three sheds at Khwairamband Keithel.
“Around the three sheds, the street vendors are selling the same things including the vegetables, fruits which are being sold inside the keithel. Because of them, sales inside the three sheds are affected,” protesters said to the media.
Working Committee of Khwairamband Ima Keithel, co-convenor Asem Nirmala said that Khwairamband Keithel holds an image of the state. “All the vendors working in the sheds are here to earn a livelihood, not for attending fashion shows,” she said.
The state government had constructed a supermarket at Lamphel but about 1,000 trunks with respective owners’ names are already kept there, she said.
While vending at Naga Turel is also banned, all the street vendors are selling the same things in and around the alleys of three keithel, she lamented.
Meanwhile, a fencing has been erected between Keithel No 1 and Keithel No 3 in the name of smart city and it is also a factor of losing of sales, she said.
The state will witness true development only when the hard working vendors at the Keithel are earning well and good, she mentioned. On the contrary, their earnings are getting reduced and they are losing sales day by day, she mentioned.
Therefore, the protest was conducted to save the market while urging the state government to look into the matter. They also urged the street vendors to stop selling in and around the three market sheds.
