KMC eyes post-Chhath date for pushback drive against illegal hawkers in New Mkt
Times of India | 28 October 2025Relaxation during the festive season has led to large-scale encroachment of all streets in the area.
A senior KMC official, who is also a member of the Town Vending Committee (TVC), conceded that the civic body was under pressure to conduct a fresh drive to clear the streets in and around New Market from rampant hawker encroachment. "We offered relaxations to hawkers in the New Market area before Durga Puja. Now, as the festivities are getting over, we need to get tough with those still encroaching on streets and pavements," the official said.
On Monday, TOI found five rows of hawkers on Humayun Place, one on the pavement and four on the road, occupying over half of the 30ft-wide road. Two 15 ftx10 ft stalls selling toys dominated the landscape, which also had three rows of hawkers selling scarves, pyjamas, and trinkets.
Last year, a joint drive by KMC, TVC and cops the reclamation of road space from hawkers and the re-establishment of parking lots. Shopkeepers at New Market, Shreeram Arcade, Treasure Island, Bertram Street, and Lindsay Street viewed it as a reprieve and hoped the availability of parking space would lead to the return of customers who had abandoned the market due to the parking issue.
However, the joy was short-lived as hawkers made a comeback and re-occupied the roads. On Monday, two cars were parked on Humayun Place, which has space for parking more than a dozen cars. In fact, bikes were parked in front of New Empire Cinema due to lack of space on the opposite flank.
On Bertram Street, half the road space was occupied by three-four rows of hawkers, with stalls selling bags encroaching on nearly 10ft of the road.
The four cars that were parked had been turned into display shelves by hawkers who perched their wares on them. There is space to park more than 24 cars on Bertram Street but hawkers had claimed nearly all of it.
According to Hawker Sangram Committee chief Saktiman Ghosh, also a TVC member, KMC and cops must act against encroachment in the New Market area and, at the same time, clear the space in front of KMC headquarters of hawker encroachment. "Often, we talk about the immunity of hawkers who face eviction from the streets. But now we need to point a finger at cops and a section of civic officials who have repeatedly failed to provide a shield to genuine hawkers, and can't prevent encroachment of carriageways by ghost hawkers," said Ghosh.
A Kolkata Police source said cops were ready to conduct a drive in New Market.
