Even as Salt Lake authorities dilly-dally about the fate of hawkers on their footpaths, the Sector V administration has arrived at a plan to deal with the issue once and for all.

Urban development minister Firhad Hakim announced on Tuesday that they would build a food court in the IT hub to accommodate all hawkers and thereby free the footpaths.

“We have decided to build a food court at plot AQ 11. This would be behind the 215 route bus stop that we are renovating,” Hakim said at the inauguration of the bus terminus’ gates. “All food hawkers of Sector V would be rehabilitated there and the footpaths will be cleared.”

A tender was floated about three weeks back inviting companies to carry out the construction work and Nabadiganta Industrial Township Authority (NDITA) officials said the contract is expected to be finalised by mid-December.

Earlier, NDITA chairman Debashis Sen had said that they had held meetings with roadside hawkers and their unions several months ago. “The food court will take about three years to build,” he said.

Illegal stalls beautified

The food court may be a distant reality but a drive around Sector V now will reveal that many of the illegal stalls have got fresh coats of paint.

Some stalls, between Webel Bhavan and Webel bus stop, are getting their bamboo stands replaced by metallic ones. Their roofs are getting extensions of flexes bearing government propaganda. The bamboos holding up the stalls are getting coloured in bright blue-and yellow shades. The beautification drive, by NDITA, began about three months back.

“The urban development department has decided to promote Sector V as the ‘Showcase of Bengal’ and NDITA has been given the responsibility of beautifying the area,” said Hakim.

But why would one decorate stalls that are illegal and that would get razed to the ground when the hawkers move to the new food court anyway? “This is a stop-gap arrangement,” said an NDITA official. “The footpaths look ugly and since we are trying to attract foreign investment to the state, we are adopting these temporary beautification measures to make the best of the situation. But all the stalls will be moved once AQ 11 is ready for them.”

Outside help

NDITA is taking help from other agencies in dealing with the hawker problem. They have signed a work order with an NGO named Gana Unnayan Parshad worth Rs 12 lakh in September and the Parshad has been asked to conduct detailed surveys to explore alternative areas for hawker rehabilitation in Sector V, to design mobile and immovable kiosks, recommend infrastructural improvements that the civic body could adopt  etc.

“We have been working on the hawker issue in the city for six to seven years,” said Samaresh Mukherjee of Gana Unnayan Parshad. “Earlier we were doing a project for a Denmark-based university. The students were interested to learn how the economy of hawkers worked on the footpaths of our city. On the basis of that, we have tied up with NDITA now and hope to complete our research and survey by April 2018.”

According to their reports, the SDF-Nalban crossing is the worst affected street in Sector V with maximum traffic snarls and accidents. “It turns out that all the offices on this stretch are on one side of the road whereas hawkers are stationed on the right. If hawkers were moved to the opposite side, the traffic situation would improve as less people would be trying to cross the street,” he added.

However, he says hawkers cannot be moved too far away as per the National Hawker Policy. “We have talked about this at length with NDITA head Debashis Sen. A mutually agreeable situation needs to be worked out,” he said.

Wait and watch

The authorities may have their plans chalked out but the hawkers themselves are still in the dark about their future.

“I don’t know about any such thing. Our union hasn't informed us about it,” said Prasad Mondal, who runs a pice hotel in AP-GP Block. “The authorities can say whatever they like but we won’t move out so easily. We have been here for 20-25 years. Who will compensate us for losses?”

“I haven't heard about this and don’t want to move either. But if other hawkers move I will have to follow suit,” said Sukanta Guha, who runs a small grocery store on a pavement leading to Godrej Waterside Building near College More.

Swarnendu Mitra, a local union leader, feels the food court is for the greater good. “The union has decided to agree to the government’s proposal to move into AQ 11. We have been told that four food courts will be built in the four corners of Sector V so people don’t lose business. AQ 11 is the first one while the other sites have not been decided,” said the man who runs a pice hotel. “I have a loyal set of customers who don't want me to move. But the government is bending backwards to relocate us and we must co-operate,” he said.

Customers have mixed feelings about the food court. Abhishek Das, an employee of IBM, welcomed the move. “If it clears our footpaths I'm ready to walk 10 to 15 minutes to the food court every day,” said Das.

But Priya Rani, who studies in a college nearby, wasn’t too keen. “I come to these stalls as the food is fresh and prices reasonable. But live as a paying guest and have limited resources. I can’t afford an extra bus ride to the food court every day,” she said.