The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) will soon launch a drive to earmark one-third of the width of the pavements along five roads surrounding New Market for hawkers so that the rest remains free for pedestrians, officials said.
The pavements along all these roads — Hogg Street, Bertram Street, Humayun Place, Lindsay Street and Corporation Place — are now almost completely occupied by hawkers.
In addition to the pavements, street vendors have occupied nearly half the space of Bertram Street, Humayun Place and Lindsay Street.
The decision to earmark space for hawkers was taken at a meeting of Kolkata’s town vending committee on Wednesday.
The committee has been empowered by the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014, a central law, as the sole authority to identify hawkers, issue them vending certificates and take action against hawkers who violate rules.
Every town or city in the country must have its town vending committee.
Street vending rules, framed by the state government based on the central act, specify that hawkers should be restricted within one-third width of any pavement. The rest must be free for pedestrians.
“We have decided to earmark one-third width of the pavement along five roads (around New Market). Hawkers have to set up stalls within one-third of the width of the pavements along those roads,” said Debashis Kumar, mayoral council member of the KMC who handles hawker-related issues.
“Hawker members of the committee have proposed that pavements should be constructed on roads that lack them. Hawkers who now sit with their ware on those roads have to shift to the pavements when they are ready. This is only a proposal and no decision has been taken yet,” said Kumar, who is also co-chairperson of Kolkata’s town vending committee.
A hawker member of the town vending committee said they have also proposed that the KMC widen footpaths that are less than 5ft wide. The demand was raised because it would be impossible to set up a stall on one-third of a pavement that is less than 5ft wide, the member said.
Kumar said all the roads around New Market barring Bertram Street have wide footpaths.
The street vending rules also prohibit hawkers from setting up stalls on a road or in such a way that a part of it encroaches on a road.
Most roads around New Market have hawkers on the carriageway. The stalls and the shoppers standing in front of them keep barely a few feet in the middle of the roads for pedestrians, who have to jostle for space.
The KMC, the police and the town vending committee recently cleared two-thirds width of the pavement in the Grand arcade following a Calcutta High Court order to ensure that two-thirds width of the pavement was free for pedestrians.
The authorities, after showing reluctance for years to enforce the one-third rule, swung into action after the court issued the order.
A survey conducted by the vending committee last year had spotted around 2,000 hawkers on the roads around New Market. The roads that were surveyed included the five roads where the KMC will launch the drive to demarcate one-third space on the pavements for hawkers.
