Over the past several weeks, Delhi’s street vendors have found themselves under siege. Bulldozers have arrived without warning, stalls have been razed, and livelihoods—built over decades—have been wiped out in minutes. Since the BJP’s Rekha Gupta assumed office as Chief Minister of Delhi, vendors say evictions have intensified dramatically. According to the National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI), the capital is home to over 2 lakh street vendors. Yet, since April 28, more than 25,000 of them have been evicted under what authorities are calling a sweeping “cleanliness mission.”
Many of those affected hold valid Certificates of Vending (COV), issued by municipal corporations, but have still seen their goods confiscated and stalls demolished. The bulldozer has become a familiar and feared sight. In May, the Delhi government launched a 20-day city-wide sanitation campaign. The Chief Minister said that, for the first time under a “triple-engine” government, officials from the Delhi government and the municipal body were working in coordination to make Delhi “clean and beautiful”. Encroachments, debris, and garbage, she said, would no longer be tolerated on public pathways, parks, or markets.
