Chandigarh, June 8 -- City residents can finally expect respite from illegal street vendors as the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation is deploying advanced technology to keep them off the streets. In a major push to regulate street vending and curb the growing menace of illegal vendors, the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation (MC) is introducing a comprehensive monitoring system, starting with the issuance of smart identification cards to all registered vendors. This new initiative, designed to restore order to the city's vending system, brings together several cutting-edge technologies to ensure transparency and efficient enforcement, including hologram-embedded certificates, chip-based ID cards, geofencing of vending zones, a mobile tracking app and real-time CCTV surveillance. In a survey conducted in 2016, the city had 10,903 registered street vendors in all, divided in three categories - street, essential and non-essential. But nine years later, their number has dwindled to just 4,032 after the civic body, from January this year, cancelled the licences of as many as 6,871 vendors for failing to clear their licensing fee dues. The defaulters owe MC a massive Rs.75 crore in unpaid dues, with 2,352 vendors having not paid their fees even once. City councillors have repeatedly flagged concerns over the mushrooming of illegal vendors in various parts of Chandigarh. Despite repeated enforcement drives by MC, unregistered vendors continue to occupy footpaths, road berms, corridors and even parking spaces, obstructing pedestrian movement and posing inconvenience to both shoppers and shopkeepers. Sector 17, which has been declared a no-vending zone, along with Sectors 1 to 6, since 2019, continues to witness unlicensed vendors operating with impunity. "To curb the illegal vending in the city, MC, on the directions of municipal commissioner Amit Kumar, is issuing special certificates embedded with holograms to all registered street vendors. The hologram will serve as an authenticity check. If someone else is occupying a stall or vending illegally, it can be identified immediately and addressed," said joint commissioner Sumit Sihag. The municipal commissioner has also directed the joint commissioner to personally conduct surprise inspections to check unauthorised activities and restore public order. On Saturday itself, the joint commissioner conducted an inspection at the Sector 15 Patel Market and the vending zone, and 52 challans were issued on the spot to encroachers....