Hawkers’ New Market turf war in Kolkata eats into space for pedestrians, motorists
Times of India | 28 November 2024
Kolkata: Unbridled and unregulated hawking continues to plague the area around New Market with vendors returning to their old ways of encroaching on pavements. Despite the directives from the state govt, they had returned in greater numbers to occupy fresh spots on the carriageway and pavements, alleged traders and shoppers.
As the hawkers reclaim the roads around the New Market, barely any space is left for pedestrians and motorists. Not just that, the rift among factions of hawker unions — attempting to claim certain stretches — has worsened the situation. A hawker union leader and member of the town vending committee Saktipada Mondal felt it was unfortunate that hawker groups were clashing to reclaim pavement and carriageway space. Mondal told TOI the matter assumed significance in the wake of a new hawker policy and would be discussed with the town vending committee to resolve the crisis.
The absence of regulation by either the civic authorities or the police has left shopkeepers and shoppers exasperated as access to several gates of the New Market has been constricted. Parking lots have also been occupied. The influx of additional hawkers has even led to altercations between hawker unions as they attempt to claim fresh territory. One such incident earlier this week led to a hawker union leader being hospitalised. The issue of illegal encroachment comes to haunt ahead of the iconic markets's landmark 150th anniversary in Jan, posing major clean-up challenges.
Following numerous complaints from both shoppers and shopkeepers in the area, TOI visited the streets only to find more hawkers on the roads than there were in July when chief minister Mamata Banerjee had issued stern warnings against encroachment of pavements and roads.
On Hogg Street, TOI found four rows of hawkers between the entrance to the cake and biscuit range and the entrance to the new block of New Market. Two bangle shops had occupied a section of the New Market premises. Over a dozen stalls had been established to sell clothes and snacks. On Lindsay Street, the promenade above the Simpark Mall has been occupied by hawkers. "But if unbridled hawking continues, we will get asphyxiated and the market will wither away," rued SS Hogg Market Traders' Association president Ashok Gupta.
The hawkers have not even spared a parking lot reserved for motorcycles of both employees of KMC as well as traders in New Market. Opposite Aminia, the space reserved for parking KMC vehicles now transforms into a hawking zone after 5 pm as does Corporation Place right in front of the KMC headquarters after 6 pm.
On Bertram Street where more than half the road had been occupied by hawkers and shoppers were prohibited from parking their vehicles in the KMC-allotted parking lots, the situation has precariously reverted to where it was prior to July-August.