Fire-proof polycarbonate view-cutters make debut in Gariahat, work in Ballygunge soon
Times of India | 15 July 2024
Kolkata: The Kolkata Municipal Corporation has started installing polycarbonate view-cutters mounted on steel frames at hawking hub Gariahat to camouflage the shabby rear portions of hawker stalls that face the roads and are an eyesore.
The view-cutters being installed at the edge of the pavement, where it meets the kerb, carry advertisements of social schemes introduced by the state govt.Later, KMC will explore the opportunity of renting out the space for commercial advertisements.
The KMC advertisement department had floated an e-tender for installation of such view-cutters to cover the street-facing rear ends of stalls between Rashbehari (crossing) and Bijon Setu on either side of Rashbehari Avenue as well as on either side along Gariahat Road. View-cutters will later be installed between Rashbehari crossing and Triangular Park.
In the first phase, KMC has decided to install such view-cutters behind 931 stalls at Gariahat. Work on this section got underway this weekend. According to a KMC advertisement department official, currently 100 such view-cutters are ready for installation at Gariahat. “We have placed an order for manufacturing of polycarbonate view-cutters that will be installed at Gariahat, Ballygunge and an entire stretch of Rashbehari Avenue hawking zones. Later, we will install such view-cutters at other major hawking zones,” said the civic official.
Civic officials said private agencies that will be allotted the work will install metal framed view-cutters at their own cost and maintain them for three years. In lieu, they will be allowed to mop up revenue by displaying advertisements.
According to Debasish Kumar, MMiC overseeing KMC advertisement department, civic inspectors will visit the spots after installation of the metal panels and report to the civic brass on the quality of such panels. “We have started installing the fire-proof polycarbonate view-cutters at Gariahat. The exercise aims at eliminating plastics and clothes used by hawkers. The initiative taken by the KMC will be replicated at other hawking hubs in phases,” Kumar said.
General secretary of Gariahat-Ballygunge Hawkers’ Union, Debraj Ghosh, hailed the move and promised to extend support to KMC. “It is a long-pending scheme that will give the zone an aesthetic look. I have already asked hawkers to shun plastic and clothes that look shabby,” said Ghosh. According to a hawker in Gariahat, the gap between the view-cutter and kerb should be made narrower to enable them to protect their wares from rain.