Nagpur: A decision to roll out a pilot project for scientific street vendor management on 10 major roads in Dharampeth and Laxmi Nagar zones has marked Nagpur Municipal Corporation’s (NMC) first structured attempt to regulate hawking while improving pedestrian movement and traffic flow.The decision was taken during a high-level review meeting chaired by municipal commissioner Vipin Itankar on Thursday. The pilot is expected to serve as a model for similar interventions across the city if found successful.According to officials, the project aims to strike a balance between protecting the livelihoods of street vendors and ensuring that roads and footpaths remain accessible for pedestrians. Instead of blanket anti-encroachment drives, the focus will be on planned vendor zones, better utilisation of available road space and orderly vending arrangements.During the meeting, experts from ITDP India, PDA Pune and IRTE presented concepts for improving urban mobility. The PDA Pune team showcased designs for organised vendor management in Dharampeth Zone, the Futala area and Medical College Square. Based on these presentations, the municipal commissioner directed officials to identify 10 key roads in Dharampeth and Laxmi Nagar for the pilot implementation.Officials said the selected roads will be surveyed before finalising detailed plans. The pilot is expected to include demarcated vending spaces, improved pedestrian pathways and measures to minimise conflicts between vendors, motorists, and pedestrians.The initiative comes as the civic body has intensified efforts to reclaim footpaths and regulate encroachments across Nagpur. While enforcement drives have removed illegal obstructions from several roads in recent months, officials believe long-term solutions require planned infrastructure rather than periodic eviction drives.Alongside the vendor management proposal, the meeting also reviewed Nagpur’s on-street parking strategy. ITDP India presented a roadmap for scientific parking management, following which the commissioner directed the project department to appoint consultants to conduct detailed road surveys. A joint workshop involving NMC, Nagpur Traffic Police, Nagpur Improvement Trust (NIT), the Public Works Department (PWD) and MahaMetro will also be organised to prepare an integrated parking plan.Currently, NMC and city traffic police have declared on-street parking on 51 stretches across the city. The pilot project is expected to provide valuable inputs for framing a citywide policy on street vending and pedestrian-friendly road management.
