Kolkata: Several hawkers, who were evicted from the carriageway at Hatibagan during a joint pushback drive by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) and cops, have started encroaching upon the pavements along Arabinda Sarani. The encroachment has drawn ire of the residents, who now seek the civic body’s intervention to remove the hawkers from the pavements in front of their houses.
Around 30 hawkers are occupying the narrow pavement of Arabinda Sarani, cutting across the Bidhan Sarani crossing. Most of these hawkers were found encroaching the pavement on a less than 1km stretch towards Sovabazar, between Hatibagan and Hari Ghosh Road crossing.
A local hawker union member said a section of hawkers, displaced for blocking the carriageway between Hatibagan and Town School, shifted to Arabinda Sarani to get their names enlisted by the civic body, which was carrying out a survey in the city’s vending zones. Rathin Das, a seller of cosmetics items on the Arabinda Sarani pavement, “I had been doing business on the road near Uttara Market at Hatibagan for 12 years. I have shifted to Arabinda Sarani a week ago after cops removed our wares.”
Locals fear that the rest of the stretch, up to Sovabazar Metro station, may also be occupied if the civic authorities do not take immediate steps. Sudipta Chatterjee, a resident of Arabinda Sarani, said, “One fine morning I discovered that the footpath in front of our house has been encroached by the hawkers. The footpath is narrow. It has been narrowed further.”
Prabhat Das, a member of Shyambazar-Hatibagan Hawkers’ Union said, “Many hawkers, who never ran businesses at Hatibagan, are also sitting on Arabinda Sarani to get their names enlisted. We tried to stop them but it is causing a dispute. We are requesting the civic officials to take action.”
A KMC’s Town Vending Committee (TVC) member said plans were afoot to rehabilitate the evicted hawkers elsewhere near the city’s shopping hubs.
“No meeting has been held yet about the rehabilitation of these hawkers. We will discuss the matter of encroachment on Arabinda Sarani in our meeting,” the Town Vending Committee member said, assuring of necessary action.