KMC, police swoop down on hawkers
Kolkata: A day after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee told the civic bodies to free the pavements from random encroachment of hawkers, Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) along with Kolkata Police conducted a drive in several areas in the city, taking stock of the situation and evicting hawkers.
The Chief Minister had expressed concerns during her administrative meeting on Monday that footpaths in the city are being randomly taken over by hawkers. She had said that even though hawkers have the right to earn a living they cannot randomly sit wherever they deem fit.
On Tuesday, KMC officials and police launched a crackdown in the city where during inspection drives, they swooped down on hawkers occupying pavements in the city and pushing pedestrians to the street. Outside the SSKM Hospital, KMC councillor Papiya Singh was seen cracking down on the hawker stalls that have occupied the pavement. The sellers were asked to remove the polythene awnings over their shops and warned against using gas cylinders on the road which can pave the way for a fire incident. Police were seen giving ultimatums to the hawkers.
A KMC official said that every month such drives are conducted and these hawkers are warned but after a few days they allegedly continue with their businesses violating the rules. “It is not possible to carry out an inspection every day,” said the official.
The councillor said: “We are not against them selling their wares and earning livelihood. We are asking them to follow rules such as not use such plastic or polythene sheets or keep gas cylinders out in the open.”
A hawker told the media that they have been doing business there for the last 20 to 25 years. He said: “What are we to do? Die of hunger? We earn money honestly by selling cooked food items outside the hospital at a nominal price. Many who visit the hospital eat at our stalls. How else should we earn money, rob and steal? We pay for our stalls to the hawker unions.”
Similar sights were witnessed in Jadubabur Bazar at Bhawanipore and at Hatibagan Market where police were seen seizing wares of the hawkers. In Gariahat Market, police removed several shops while apprehended some of the hawkers as they were seen lodged into the police van. Plastic coverings were also removed. In Kolkata, KMC Mayor Firhad Hakim had previously written to the Kolkata Police Commissioner asking for police assistance in helping KMC during hawker eviction drive.
