Hawker pushback drive targets blocked pavements on CIT Road
Times of India | 6 July 2024
12 Kolkata: The Park Circus Traffic Guard — along with Entally Police and Beniapukur Police — carried out a night-long anti-encroachment drive on CIT Road and the adjoining areas on Thursday.
“The pavements between Entally and CNMC Hospital were encroached upon, making it difficult to walk. We wanted to realign the hawkers’ stalls. None was evicted,” claimed an officer.The focus, according to cops, was on the flank towards Park Circus.
Sources claimed that multiple forms of encroachment were faced by the cops. “Besides stalls eating up pedestrian space, we found goods dumped on the pavements. This included goods being offloaded from interstate buses, tea stalls setting up their dustbins, garages and even activities by political parties. We also came across illegal parking on the pavements. Besides CIT Road, our team also visited Ram Mohan Bera Lane, Bechulal Road, Padmapukur and Beniapukur Road,” said a cop.
The drive will be repeated on a periodic basis and videography of each drive will be carried out. The senior officers, however, assured that there would be no eviction if the hawkers remove all tin or aluminum roof shades and iron structures.
According to a local hawker, the cops had given them a 24-hour deadline to remove all permanent and semi-permanent structures or else the cops would be compelled to apply force to remove them. While a section of hawkers readily accepted the proposal and started removing the unauthorized structures later in the night, some waited till Friday morning.
“We were not ready for a sudden drive. But we learnt a lesson and have assured the cops that they would do whatever is necessary to adhere to the hawking rules,” said a tea stall owner at Padmapukur.