Pavements should be for pedestrians, the Supreme Court said last week. But Calcutta's footpaths still have a long way to go.
In Burrabazar, a hawker on the pavement along Brabourne Road said they had been there for decades. In Gariahat, a hawker said they would resist any attempt to evict them.
Metro visited some of the city's busiest shopping hubs on Saturday to assess the condition of pavements in Burrabazar, Hatibagan and Gariahat.
In several pockets, hawkers have spilled onto the road because there is no more room for stalls on the pavements.
The Supreme Court said on Friday that people could seek legal and constitutional remedies if their right to walk on demarcated footpaths was impeded.
In Burrabazar, hawkers were on most of the pavements, leaving only a narrow strip for pedestrians. On some stretches, stalls extended onto the road.
Along Brabourne Road, the arterial thoroughfare running through Burrabazar, hawkers took up almost the entire pavement.
Canning Street, Jackson Lane and Old China Bazaar Street presented a similar picture. Stalls selling artificial flowers, stationery and crockery lined the pavements.
Hatibagan was no different. Hawkers took up more than half the pavements. Bidhan Sarani, which runs alongside, also had numerous stalls.
At the Hatibagan crossing, there were two rows of stalls — one facing the pavement and the other the road. On some stretches, the stalls occupied more than half the width of the pavement.
In Gariahat, several stretches had stalls on both sides of the pavement, leaving only a narrow passage for pedestrians.
The apex court's order said: "The fundamental right to walk will take within its sweep the right to demarcated footpaths. These rights are primary and shall have priority over movement by motorised vehicles."
The court's observations come at a time when the Suvendu Adhikari government has repeatedly stressed pedestrians' right to use pavements.
On June 12, Suvendu asserted pedestrians' right to pavements, telling hawkers that he was accountable to the people who had voted him to power, and urged them to relocate.
Suvendu said no one had the right to encroach on pavements and that his government would protect "the interests of the people over those of an individual or a group".
The street vending rules notified by the Bengal government in 2018 allow hawkers to set up stalls on one-third of a pavement's width. Stalls are not permitted on roads.