The Eastern Railway demolished over 1,200 shops, kiosks and makeshift structures in and around the Habra railway station in North 24-Parganas on the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday as part of the anti-encroachment drive, triggering protests and leaving thousands of hawkers and their families facing an uncertain future.
The operation began around 11pm and continued till the early hours of Tuesday.
Three bulldozers, backed by a massive deployment of police, Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel and paramilitary forces, were pressed into service to clear nearly 500 metres of encroached railway land around the station.
A similar demolition drive was also carried out at the Palta station, where around 60 stalls were razed despite resistance from hawkers affiliated with the CITU, and local activists.
Some of the demolished structures at the Habra railway station on Tuesday morning
The twin operations are estimated to have affected nearly 2,000 families, with hawkers claiming that thousands dependent on the station economy have suddenly been deprived of their means of livelihood.
The demolition happened barely two weeks after Calcutta High Court directed the railways to temporarily halt eviction of hawkers from the Dankuni, Naihati and Konnagar stations until June 17.
The order had raised hopes among small traders across the railway network that the anti-encroachment campaign might be suspended pending further judicial scrutiny. However, the railways proceeded with the Habra and Palta drives. A petition filed by a CITU-backed hawkers' organisation concerning the three stations is scheduled to come up for hearing on Wednesday.
At Habra, attempts by CITU activists and residents to resist the demolition were quickly neutralised by the security personnel. Local power supply around the station was reportedly shut off before the operation commenced.
Ritoban De, a CPM leader from Habra, described the eviction as a humanitarian crisis.
"We tried our best to resist the bulldozers and prevent the eviction, but failed. This is an inhuman exercise that has rendered thousands jobless overnight and pushed many families into a survival crisis. The Railways should have given at least a year's time for rehabilitation and relocation," De said.
He said the CPM had arranged food for affected families who were still struggling to salvage their belongings.
"Many traders managed to shift their goods after receiving notices, but many others stayed back hoping for a reprieve. We have started a community food service for the affected families and will continue it until they find alternative means of livelihood," he added.
Among those devastated by the drive was hawker Ashok Das.
"Like many others, I wanted change in the hope of development and a better future. But this is not the development I expected. Today, my livelihood has been taken away," Das said.
In a dramatic development ahead of the demolition, a Trinamool Congress-run club near the station was reportedly converted into a Kali temple within 24 hours, allegedly in an attempt to prevent it from being demolished. The move, however, failed to stop the bulldozers. The newly established shrine, along with the clubhouse structure, was demolished during the operation.
Railway authorities had issued notices in late May directing traders occupying railway land in and around the Habra station to vacate the premises by June 13. The notices warned that failure to comply would result in forcible eviction. While some traders dismantled their establishments voluntarily, those who remained were removed during Monday night's operation.
Encroachments around the Habra station had grown over several decades, with hundreds of stalls occupying railway land and large portions of the station platforms. Commuters had repeatedly complained that hawkers occupied substantial portions of the platforms, making movement difficult during peak hours.
The Habra drive forms part of a wider railway campaign to reclaim encroached land and station premises. Similar operations have already been conducted at the Sealdah, Dum Dum, Jadavpur and Tollygunge stations, while notices have been served on traders at several stations along the Sealdah-Bangaon stretch.
Alleging political interference, CITU leader Gargi Chatterjee accused the BJP of attempting to weaken the hawkers' movement.
"The BJP is playing a divisive game to break the unity of protesting hawkers. Many traders were assured that their establishments would not be touched if they distanced themselves from the movement. Those assurances have now proved meaningless. The hawkers have been misled only to weaken their resistance," Chatterjee alleged.