The Kochi Corporation will kick start an intense drive next month to relocate authorised street vendors into 67 dedicated vending zones identified across 76 divisions in keeping with the provisions of the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014.A few years back the Kerala High Court had directed the immediate removal of unauthorised street vendors from the city’s streets. The civic body had since then issued identity cards and licences to 2,350 authorised street vendors and identified 65 street vending zones across its 74 divisions with the Kerala High Court closely monitoring the implementation of the Act and related issues. The Corporation had also passed a by-law to regulate street vending in the city which, among other things, forbade anyone from renting out a location or cart to unauthorised vendors.The Corporation has extended the time for authorised street vendors yet to be relocated to the vending zones to apply for the same through the health circles concerned till June 30. Despite repeated alerts through various offices of the Corporation and the town vending committee, a section of vendors, around 500, are yet to apply. They would be excluded from the project if they fail to comply with the extended deadline, warned the Corporation.“The Corporation is set to undertake an intensive drive to identify, relocate and allocate spaces to eligible street vendors from the beginning of next month. The documents of the 765 identified vendors already relocated to the designated vending zones will be examined once more, and they will be allocated 25 sq. ft. each. Gaps in the issuance of identity cards will also be addressed,” said Mayor V.K. Minimol.Residents and differently abled will be given priority in the vending zones, as some zones seem to have excess demand. For instance, there are 675 aspirants in the zone identified alongside the Ernakulam market while a maximum of 80 can be accommodated there. Division councillors will be taken into confidence in the process.Ms. Minimol said that efforts would be made to provide uniformly designed bunkers to all vendors with the help of corporate social responsibility funding. Uniformly designed bunkers provided by the Cochin Smart Mission Limited had been provided to a section of vendors at the vending zones in Fort Kochi, Mattancherry, and Panamppilly Nagar. Published - June 12, 2026 09:44 pm IST