Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, along with Dehradun mayor Sunil Uniyal ‘Gama’, inaugurated the smart vending zone near Raipur Ring Road on Wednesday. The vending zone here has been launched as a pilot project. Municipal commissioner Vinay Shankar Pandey said that the experience of vendors and citizens at smart vending zone will be observed for a month and if the project turns out to be satisfactory Municipal Corporation of Dehradun (MCD) will implement the same infrastructure at other places also.

During the inauguration ceremony, CM Rawat congratulated MCD on its initiative and said that this smart vending zone will not only be profitable for the vendors but is also a way to ensure the desired level of sanitation in the area. He also mentioned the traffic congestion that used to occur in the area and said that now with the infrastructure of new vending zone, citizens will also get relief from daily traffic related problems.

He further added, “The model of smart vending zone has been made on Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode, each trolley costs about Rs 1,06,000.

As per the guidelines of the Union Government, all the features have been installed here including CCTV cameras. To empower the women here 5100 vendor carts will be distributed. Smart cards have also been issued to all vendors.” 

Mayor ‘Gama’ said that the vendors now will be wearing uniforms along with their identification cards.

The trolleys will also have Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), so that only the vendor himself can operate it. These IDs will have a QR code, so that MCD officials during surprise visits can check the authenticity of the vendors in more efficient way.

It is pertinent to mention here that at Chhe Number Puliya basic infrastructure along with pathways, proper sanitation arrangements, public toilets have been developed. Fifty symmetrical trolleys for vendors with each having the capacity to hold 400 kilogrammes have also been introduced here.

The trolleys also have solar panel which will have the capacity to give at least eight hours of electricity. The vendors will be paying Rs 2,000 to MCD as monthly tax. According to MCD officials, the smart trolley is being provided by a private entity on PPP mode. The vendors are being funded under National Urban Livelihood Mission (NULM) for their trolleys.