BMC, cops to plan hawker removal on VIP Rd service lane
Times of India | 11 July 2024
Kolkata: Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation (BMC) and traffic cops will work on a plan to clear encroachments from the service lane and pavement on the airport-bound flank of VIP Road at Baguiati and rehabilitate the hawkers in the Baguiati area. BMC mayor Krishna Chakraborty and civic officials held a coordination meeting with representatives of Bidhannagar police, PWD, CESC and WBSEDCL on Tuesday to discuss how the work can be taken up.
TOI on Tuesday checked on the 1-km stretch from Kestopur to Baguiati on the airport-bound flank and found about 10-12 hawkers doing business on the pavement at Kestopur. After crossing Kestopur, till about Baguiati Joramandir — a little over 500 m — there are several hawkers, including fruit and vegetable sellers, fish and meat vendors and others, doing business on the road side off VIP Road. Many have even set up makeshift structures.
The encroachment are a major inconvenience for motorists who take the service road. In some cases, motorists park the cars at these stalls to buy vegetables and meat. “Baguiati crossing is one of the most chaotic junctions, with street vendors and hawkers taking over almost half of the service road,” a local said.
Hawkers said they have been doing business in this way for years and have not yet been informed by the civic authorities about moving away. “We will see if we get rehabilitated by the authorities,” said a road-side vegetable vendor.
Police said that they will assist the civic authorities to calculate the number of hawkers there and work on a rehabilitation plan.