PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE | Dehradun
The heavy and persistent rainfall during the past few months has negatively impacted the sales of street vendors who run stalls along the roadsides in Dehradun. Many of them The Pioneer talked to expressed concerns over their decreased sales and disruptions during this monsoon season. They said in unison that during heavy downpours, they had to shut their stalls and protect themselves and their goods from the pelting rains. Customers were very scarce when it rained heavily.
Notably, the long-continuing rains accompanied by landslides and road blockages throughout the State have not just resulted in frequent closures of schools but affected the livelihood of many. The street vendors are perhaps the most affected as they trade from no permanent shop but makeshift structures put up on roadsides.
A vendor who earns his living by selling vegetables from a roadside stall in Dehradun, Virendra Kumar lamented the losses he had been incurring this monsoon season. “I spread a sheet on the roads and from it sell vegetables. But this year, the heavy rainfall has come in the way and thrown my living into jeopardy. What is worse is that all my vegetables were washed away by rainwater a number of times. Subsequently, I stopped collecting and selling vegetables and had to bear considerable losses,” he recounted.
While sharing her monsoon experiences, a fast food stall owner, Manju Pandey said that this year’s monsoon has been particularly persistent and damaging. “The main problem I face is that the edibles I cook and sell get soggy due to the seeping rain water and moisture. That is why I decided not to take out my food cart on some days when it rained heavily. So I lost customers and income. I wonder how I will overcome this loss,” she said.
Another street vendor, Yash Tyagi who sells socks, hankies and the like echoed the same, stating that he had been barely able to trade for a week in a month. “This is not that I alone have been suffering but all the street vendors are facing the same plight who trade through makeshift stalls and carts,” he shared.
