Bidhannagar: Police crack down on hawkers occupying roads and footpaths

Kolkata: Within just 24 hours of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s stringent direction for removal of hawkers occupying roads and footpaths of Sector V in Salt Lake, cops from Electronics Complex police station asked them to clear the footpath for pedestrian movement.

Police on Monday night removed the objects that were kept on the road by the illegal shop owners. They were also cautioned against using any portion of the road.

On Tuesday morning, police again started a drive and went to every illegal shop and directed them to clear the footpath. The Inspector in Charge (IC) of Electronics Complex police station, Tapas Das was seen cautioning the shop keepers who encroached upon the footpath. Recently, Nabadiganta Industrial Township Authority (NDITA) had started shifting the hawkers to one side of the road with an aim to make one of the two flanks

obstruction-free. As traffic movement on the road from SDF to Ariva Crossing near Technopolis is one way in between 8 am and 10 pm, vehicular movement will be much more smoother if the shops are moved to one side of the road. Sources claimed that the hawkers who have started their business recently will be evicted. However, it is not clear whether the stalls that were arranged by NDITA as a rehabilitation of hawkers doing their businesses in a scattered manner will

be removed.

Cops of Bidhannagar South Police Station were also seen cracking down on hawkers. A few shops were also pulled down in Salt Lake on Tuesday. Mayor of Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation (BMC), Krishna Chakraborty, while being interviewed by a vernacular news channel said: “I admit that there are mistakes. If the Chief Minister scolds, it is a blessing for us.

Necessary work to clear the footpaths has started. People learn from mistakes, so will I.”