Kolkata: The attempt to discipline hawkers who had encroached nearly half of Bertram Street and Humayun Place has yielded mixed results with a section toeing the line on one flank and others encroaching the other.
While hawkers who sold goods along the wall of New Market but extended their stalls to nearly 10-15ft to occupy a big chunk of the road have retracted to occupy only 5ft, another row of hawkers who did business in front of these stalls right in the middle of Bertram Street have now occupied more than two-third of the opposite pavement, blocking shop entrances.
With a hawker survey underway in the New Market area, hawkers grabbed every inch of free space available on pavements in the vicinity to ensure they figured in the list. Thus, the quiet invasion of the pavement on the western flank of Bertram Street on Sunday when shops were shut.
Hawker union leader and a member of the Town-Vending Committee Debasish Das said the hawkers were asked not to encroach upon the pavements afresh. “We have made it clear to the hawkers that under no circumstances they should go back to the pavements and grab them afresh,” said Das.
"I was shocked to see the entire pavement occupied on Monday morning. I thought the drive was to push back hawkers. Instead, they landed on our shop's doorstep. And in many instances, they have completely blocked the shop entrance. My customer count has dropped drastically due to this," complained the owner of a shop that sells apparel.
"We are trying to regulate hawkers and ensure that they do business in a manner that hurts others the least. But one must remember that unlike elsewhere in the city, in Bertram Street, hawking always happens on the road as the pavement is very narrow. Now, we are trying to adjust and accommodate. In doing so, everyone must share the pain," said hawker union leader Lakhi Nath Shaw.
At Humayun Place, an attempt to grab the pavement along Shreeram Arcade on Sunday saw stiff resistance from a fruit juice shop-owner. When he called police, they refused to intervene and instead asked him to approach KMC. Two rows of Hawkers occupied the northern flank of Humayun Place although they covered less of the tarmac than before. There were no hawkers in sight on the eastern flank adjoining Lighthouse and New Empire cinema.
On Saturday, an attempt to grab a two-wheeler parking lot by a section of hawkers had led to the fracas with traders that had then escalated into a row that saw two roads being blocked in protest and downing of shutters in nearly 5,000 shops across in the area. On Wednesday, potted plants being sold by a hawker saw another hawker destroy the plants and drive her away to occupy the place where she was doing business.