Nothing official about it, hawkers are being allowed back in New Market zone
Times of India | 6 July 2024
123 Kolkata: Less than two weeks after a city-wide drive was launched by Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) and Kolkata Police (KP) to push back hawkers who had occupied entire pavements and even encroached upon roads, hawkers have made a fearless comeback to either reclaim the earlier space or made fresh encroachments.
Civic officials as well as Town-Vending Committee functionaries said the return of hawkers was to enable a fair assessment of hawkers in each hawking hub during the survey that is currently underway.And though there is no official word on the return of hawkers, they have been told to stay put till the survey report is sent to Nabanna and a rehabilitation plan is worked out for "excess" hawkers in the hawking zones.
TOI had on Wednesday reported how hawkers had occupied the pavement on the western flank of Bertram Street and a section of the blacktop on the northern flank of Humayun Place. On Thursday, TOI reported about hawkers returning to occupy the pavements of Chowringhee Place. On Friday, TOI again reported about hawkers occupying a section of the southern flank of Lindsay Street.
Hawkers were cleared from the pavements on either side of Chowringhee Place on June 25 that marked the start of the pushback drive that subsequently took place on Bertram Street, Humayun Place and Lindsay Street in the New Market area, Gariahat in south Kolkata, Hatibagan in north and Canning Street in the central business district.
Similar hawker comebacks have been reported in other parts of the city including Gariahat, Hatibagan and Canning Street. Hawker union leaders said it didn't make sense to conduct the survey after driving away hawkers as that would misrepresent the ground situation.
“The hawkers who were doing the trade prior to the pushback drive needed to return so that they could be counted. And their return means hawking as they cannot simply raise their hands and claim they are hawkers," a hawker union leader said. According to Debasish Das, a hawker union leader and a TVC member, though the TVC members were in favour of enforcing a strict vending rules, the present survey of hawkers was aimed at finding the actual number of hawkers in a particular hawking hub. “We are definitely against grabbing of carriageways or more than one-third of pavement space. But, we also want to take into account all hawkers who are presently engaged in business in the New Market area with a view to enlisting their names and sending the list to the high-powered committee for their consideration. The committee will finally take a decision,” said Das.
Hawkers across the city said they had been assured that as long as they did not occupy an entire pavement or take up a lion’s share of a street, they would be allowed to carry on with the trade. On Bertram Street and Humayun Place that was earlier completely overrun by hawkers, police have ensured that much of the carriageway remains free. This has meant fresh encroachments on narrow pavements.
Shops located along the pavements who now find hawker stalls blocking the shop entrances hope that after the month-long survey, a rehabilitation plan will be worked out that will rationalise hawkers so that there is no conflict between hawkers and traders.