New Town hawkers to get ID cards for rehabilitation
Times of India | 6 November 2024
12 Kolkata: The New Town Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA) will soon issue identity cards to 1,246 eligible hawkers who qualify for rehabilitation but are not on the list yet.
A survey conducted before Durga Puja revealed that there are around 3,133 hawkers doing business in New Town and out of them, NKDA is in the process of rehabilitating 1,887 hawkers.
"Before clearing new encroachments, identity cards will be issued to the hawkers and street vendors who are eligible for relocation but are not on the list," said an official. NKDA recently figured out that there are almost 400 vendors, who, in the name of being old-time hawkers, made fresh encroachments on the pavements in the last few months. NKDA will conduct an eviction drive to remove these vendors to clear the pavements after issuing the identity cards to the eligible hawkers.
Authorities have already rehabilitated 1,220 hawkers to 10 hawker rehabilitation stalls and markets, and another 667 hawkers will be rehabilitated in five hawker rehabilitation markets. Officials said that nearly 900 rehabilitation stalls have already been set up and more stalls are under construction.