Bhubaneswar: In tragic fallout of trader-vendor tussle, a street vendor ended his life Sunday by hanging himself in his house at a slum in Tankapani area under Badagada police limits here.
The deceased Ajit Sahni, is a resident of Vaishali district in Bihar. Sahni had moved from Bihar to Odisha along with his family in search of livelihood around 35 years ago.
He reportedly made a living as a roadside vendor selling a variety of textile items like bed sheets, pillow and sofa covers in the City. Later, Sahni shifted his business to the Market Building in Unit-II area.
He had also received the street vendors’ card issued by the Bhubaneswar Municipality Corporation (BMC) authorities.
However, local traders put pressure on the BMC authorities to evict the vendors located in the Market Building following a tussle between a woman street vendor and a shop owner in the building over encroachment of walkway in front of the latter’s shop.
Sahni was forced out of the premises by the traders. Owing to the eviction, street vendors who have been earning their bread and butter by vending products in the area for years lost their means of support all of a sudden.
According to sources, Sahni had recently purchased goods worth over Rs 2 lakh by taking loan from a private money lender. As a result, he went into depression after the eviction from the area.
Earlier, the BMC had provided him Rs 10,000 as loan to compensate for the losses incurred due to the Covid-induced lockdown and shutdowns.
Reeling under huge debts, Sahni decided to take the extreme step Sunday morning and hanged himself from a ceiling fan when his wife and other street vendors were at the Market Building area to decide their future course of action.
PNN