KMC asks police to free New Market encroached spaces by Sunday

Kolkata: The Kolkata Municipal Corporation’s (KMC) Town Vending Committee (TVC) is learnt to have directed the police to take control of the encroached streets by hawkers in the New Market area.

Civic body’s MMIC, Debashish Kumar, also the chairman of the TVC, told the media that police were asked to clear the encroached spaces by Sunday. Such a direction came after the recent disturbance in the New Market area where hawkers clashed over occupancy rights of the carriageway.

The decision to clear the encroached spaces was taken in a recent meeting where it was highlighted that clashes among hawkers were becoming frequent in the New Market area.

The civic body had long been asking the hawkers not to encroach carriageways and had even conducted several drives to clear such spaces but little has changed.

Earlier this year, KMC had conducted a hawker survey at Bertram Street in the New Market area with the assistance of the local police station. Hawkers were asked to do business as per rules, keeping adequate space for pedestrians. The survey was done also with an aim to curb uncontrolled hawker influx and prevent the sub-letting or sale of pavement space, often against an exorbitant amount.