Gurgaon: Fifty-four-year-old Shiv Pujan sat beside his shuttered tea stall in Sector 22 market on Wednesday, watching workers lift the broken concrete slab that had collapsed over the stormwater drain a day earlier. His wife sat beside him. The stall that had sustained the couple for years remained closed, and with officials declaring the site unsafe, they had no idea how they would make ends meet.“We have nowhere else to go. MCG officials came after the collapse and told us not to run our stall here because it is unsafe. But this stall is our only source of income. If we leave, how are we supposed to survive?” Pujan said.Pujan’s predicament reflects the uncertainty facing dozens of street vendors in the area. The incident, which trapped one vending cart inside the drain, has not only disrupted livelihoods but also raised questions over MCG’s decision to develop a designated street vending zone on slabs laid over the drain.Vendors said they have been operating from the site for nearly seven years after being allotted space by the civic body, despite repeatedly warning officials that the location was unsafe.On Wednesday, teams from GMDA continued work to remove the damaged slab and secure the site. “Some vendors have shifted outside the nearby school boundary wall, but there is hardly any space left there. We have been forced to continue working over this drain despite knowing the danger. Every day now feels like we are risking our lives just to earn a living,” Pujan said.For Sanjeev Kamath, who runs a fast-food cart at the site, the collapse was a narrow escape. “When this vending zone was first created, many of us objected because it was built over a stormwater drain. Our concerns were ignored. I was delayed because of the rain yesterday. If I had reached at my usual time, I would have been standing exactly where the slab gave way. I might not have survived,” he said.Another vendor, Neeraj Gupta, whose cart plunged into the drain during the collapse and is yet to be recovered, said he has been operating from the same spot since 2019 after it was officially allotted to him by MCG.“I had a lucky escape only because I keep my egg roll stall closed on Tuesdays. Had it been any other day, I could have fallen into the drain along with my cart,” Gupta said.He said vendors had repeatedly flagged the danger to the civic body but received no response.“We have been warning MCG but no one listened. Even now, no MCG official has spoken to me about compensation for my cart, which was my only means of earning a livelihood,” Gupta said.Several vendors alleged that although MCG officials visited the site after the incident, they only instructed them to vacate the area in the interest of safety and did not announce any immediate relief, rehabilitation plan or compensation.A senior MCG official said the matter would be examined. “The approvals for street vending zones are given by the town vending committee. It will have to be checked whether the approved vending zone is on the stormwater drain slab or not,” the official said.
