Sah has been selling vegetables in Pulchowk for the last 25 years. She laments that now business isn’t good and she doesn’t make as much as she used to earlier because now all other vegetable sellers have gathered around the same area, giving shoppers more choices and thus slowing down her business.[break]
“Earlier, when I used to sit across the road, there used to be fewer vendors and I could sit almost all day. But here, I can only do business early in the morning or late in the evening,” says Sah, adding that she earns only half of what she used make to earlier.
Echoing her sentiments is Narayan Lama who’s been selling vegetables ever since he was eight years old. He’s now in his early forties.
“This is where I’ve been sitting ever since I started off and it’s getting more and more crowded day by day,” says Lama, pointing to the spot where he has spread out his produce.
Lama mentions what earlier used to be a space with only a handful of vendors is now bursting with people who’ve set up their shops in every available nook and corner.
He blames this on the road-widening campaign begun by the government, resulting in demolishment of many pavements and areas used by vendors like him for setting up their temporary shops.
Lama’s blame is not wrongly placed, and Dhurba Magar, 48, a cobbler, also agrees with him and adds that the road widening campaign has left many like him desperately searching for new spaces to run their business from.
“I sit at random places now. I walk around trying to find the perfect place everyday and end up sitting on whatever spot I can find when I get tired of dragging my large trunk of tools in the scorching heat,” says Magar.
He complains that despite going through so much, he hardly makes one third of what he used to earlier on a daily basis. In Kumari Pati, people knew where to find him as he had been there long enough and so they used to line up to mend their worn-out shoes. Now the only customers he has are the ones who accidentally damage their shoes while walking and need a quick fix.
“These petty jobs only fetch me Rs 10 per task and that’s one fifth of what I charge for bigger jobs like replacing soles and fixing heels,” says Magar, adding that now since he has no fixed place, his regular customers don’t know where to find him and thus his income has suffered greatly.
Magar has a family of seven with four children to look after. His wife works as a part-time maid and his family was just barely scraping by and now it’s even more difficult with him making less than ever before.
There are others like Magar whose daily wages has reduced substantially because they have relocated to new areas.
Ram Gurung, another cobbler, talks about how difficult life has become for him as he’s relocated to a space where there are other cobblers around.
“I used to sit in Jawalakhel and there were no other cobblers in that area and business was good. Whereas there are others like me in Pulchowk and so business is comparatively very less,” says Gurung in a sad tone, wishing that the government hadn’t initiated the road-widening campaign or they would just speed up the process now that the demolishment has started.
Dr Bhai Kaji Tiwari, Chief Urban Planner at Kathmandu Valley Town Development Implementation Committee, on the other hand, argues that vendors can’t set up shop wherever they want and that it’s also illegal.
“They don’t have rights to blame the government for trying to better the country just because they can’t sit on the pavements anymore,” says an infuriated Tiwari, adding that their slow business problem isn’t something the government needs to fret about and pay any heed to.
On the other hand, the road enhancement project has left the capital in ruins with loads of gravel, cement and bricks on every street, and as we crib about the dust and the pollution, we’ve failed to notice the impact it has had on the lives of many vendors, cobblers and other street-side workers.
Their livelihood has been affected, and for many of them, daily life has now become a matter of great struggle. But as the government too holds a valid point, there seems to be no mutually viable solution as of now.
But Sah feels there’s a need of space allotment for vendors as well.
“I know we can’t solely blame the government for our plight but there needs to be some effort from their side to improve our condition as well. At least, give us an assigned space to operate from if you call setting up shop on the footpaths illegal,” counterattacks Sah.
Magar also retaliates and says that for those who can’t afford to have proper stores, there should be some provisions made so that they can run their business from makeshift places.
“Our livelihood is suffering. We can’t feed our families properly and afford to send our children to school,” he adds.
As the vendors complain about slow business due to increased competition because of all of them huddling at the same place, the question plaguing their minds is when their life will see some normalcy.
They wonder when they won’t have to live one day at a time and won’t have to wake up in the morning unsure, whether or not they’ll be able to provide their family with the basic necessities for that particular day.
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