Hawkers still violate pedestrian, fire safety norms at various fringes of Calcutta
Telegraph | 24 November 2025
Overhead plastic sheets continue to hang above hawkers’ stalls across several parts of the city — violating rules framed by the state government that have been in effect for seven years.
In many areas, vendors have also occupied more than one-third of the pavement, leaving little room for pedestrians — yet again a violation of the street vending rules.
At New Market, most hawkers continued to display goods beyond the yellow line earmarked for the movement of pedestrians.
The yellow lines were drawn on pavements along four roads in the New Market area in January 2024. The lines demarcated one-third of the width of the pavement, and hawkers are supposed to keep their stalls within the line.
The street-vending rules, notified in 2018 by the state government, say that at least two-thirds of the width of a pavement should be free for pedestrians, and hawkers must restrict their stalls within one-third of the width of a pavement.
The rules also mentioned that no hawker can set up a stall on a road.
On Bertram Street, stalls are seen on the road. At Humayun Place, hawkers have set up stalls on pavements and have also occupied a part of the road.
A hawker on Bertram Street said Sundays were big-business days for them. “Earlier, I used to sit along Humayun Place. Whenever officials or police ask us to move, we do. But Sunday is the only day we earn properly,” he said.
Woollen garments, shirts and trousers were hung outside stalls on makeshift bamboo frames and wooden stands, narrowing the walking space further.
Visitors to the New Market area struggled to walk comfortably as the stalls by hawkers have spilled over from the pavement and taken away road space.
At Hatibagan, hawkers along Bidhan Sarani have extended their stalls onto the pathway.
Several hawkers also placed chairs and goods directly on the road across the city.
Many of the stalls at Hatibagan had tarpaulin sheets over them. One end of the sheet was tied with bamboo or steel frames of the stalls, while the other end was tied with balconies of buildings.
In 2019, a fire that started in a hawker’s stall gutted large portions of the building that houses the Traders Assembly store at the Gariahat crossing.
Residents alleged the fire had spread to the building through plastic sheets over hawkers’ stalls that were tied to the building.
The street vending rules bar the use of flammable products like tarpaulin to set up a stall.
Debashis Kumar, the co-chairperson of Calcutta’s town vending committee, said the civic body conducts drives at regular intervals to pull down plastic sheets used by hawkers.
“We are trying to distribute the vending certificates faster. We have distributed over 1,000. Once the certificates are distributed, the hawkers will be bound by the rules. If they do not follow rules, the authorities will have the power to shut down the stalls,” said Kumar.
A vendor who sells blankets on Bidhan Sarani said he was unaware of the rules. “I don’t know anything. The owner asked me to set up the stall,” he said.
In some places, almost the entire pavement had been encroached. At Kasba, between Bakultala and Kasba police station, a series of tin stalls were running from the pavement. The overhead shed, built with steel, plastic or other items ran over the entire width of the pavement, though they should not go beyond one-third width of the pavement.
At Jadubabur Bazar in Bhowanipore where several stalls had overhead plastic sheets.
A vegetable vendor at the market said they had no alternative.
“We need the tarpaulin for protection from dust, sun and rain. Vegetables dry out in sunlight. We removed the sheet earlier when KMC officials told us to, but we have no choice now,” he said.