KMC starts survey of hawkers from Gariahat
KOLKATA: Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) along with the Gariahat police station and representatives from Town Vending Committee started a survey from Wednesday to identify hawkers who have encroached on roads or are occupying more than a third of the width of pavements.
The purpose of the survey is to find out whether there are more hawkers than the numbers registered during a survey in 2015. During the pandemic, the police stations collected data on hawkers in their respective areas.
The survey started from Gariahat in South Kolkata and the stretch from
Traders Assembly upto a well-known departmental store that deals in garments at the end-point of Gariahat flyover (Ballygunge Phari side).Eight such hawker zones have been identified in Gariahat and hence the exercise will take eight days. Hatibagan and New Market in North and Central Kolkata, respectively, will be surveyed subsequently.
The footpaths in Gariahat, Hatibagan and New Market have been almost completely taken over by hawkers and a walk along them is a nightmare for the common people who are compelled to walk on roads, risking their lives.
The survey will also identify the hawkers who sit with their wares in front of heritage buildings. The exercise will formally count the number of hawkers who are following or violating the one-third-footpath-occupancy rule. "We plan to hand over identity cards to the hawkers who are found legally doing their business," a KMC official said. About 58,000 hawkers submitted applications to the KMC in 2015 for permission to run their businesses from pavements.
The team has already asked the hawkers to discard plastic and use some other alternative for covering their stalls as the former is prone to fire.