Raju K.M., who has been selling earrings, hair clips and other accessories for the past 15 years at Malleshwaram 8th Cross, was one of those evicted during the ongoing ‘Safe Footpath Campaign’ in Bengaluru last week. “They call us encroachers now. We had to fight to prevent officers from seizing our wares, as that would have led to huge losses for us. We are now doing business on some small inner roads, scared like thieves,” he said. The ongoing campaign, while being welcomed by many for clearing the various encroachments hindering the right of way for pedestrians, has run into conflict with street vendors. Hundreds of street vendors have been evicted and the wares they were hawking seized, as part of the drive in the past one week. However, such eviction drives have been met with stiff resistance in several areas like Vijayanagar, Kengeri, R.R. Nagar, N.R. Colony, and so on.S. Babu, a street vendor at Vijaynagar since 1999 and also the president of Karnataka Pragatipara Beedi Vyaparigala Sangha, said civic officials tried to evict street vendors in Vijayanagar, including him, for two days, but had to beat a hasty retreat due to protests. “I have an ID card under the old survey. I am registered under the new survey for which they are yet to give us ID cards. Still, they call us encroachers and have been trying to evict us,” he rued.