Sealdah, Howrah, Dum Dum Junction, Park Circus... The list keeps growing.

An eviction drive by railway authorities to clear stations and platforms of stalls has led to the demolition of hundreds of structures.

The latest drive was carried out at Park Circus station from late Saturday night till early Sunday, where around 150 stalls were demolished, railway officials said.

A large contingent of RPF, GRP, police and railway officials reached the station around 10.30pm on Saturday. Payloaders were ferried to the spot on freight wagons.

Using megaphones to ask hawkers to disperse, officials carried out the demolition beyond midnight and into the early hours of Sunday. Long after the drive ended, men
and women were seen rummaging through the debris, trying to retrieve whatever they could.

“I have been running a shop for over 25 years. In a flash, everything is gone,” said Firdous Ahmed, a readymade garment trader.

Another hawker, who sold roasted chickpeas on the platform, said he had been doing so for 30 years. He lived in a shanty along the railway tracks near the station.

“My stall and home were both demolished. I have become jobless and homeless at one go,” said the man, who lives with his son, a security guard at a leather unit in Tangra.

A senior official of Sealdah division said: “Around 150 stalls have been demolished. A notice had been served a month ago. Due legal process was followed in the run-up to the eviction drive.”

Only five stalls were spared, the railway official said. These stall owners have moved Calcutta High Court challenging the eviction drive. On June 17, the court placed an interim stay on eviction from railway land till June 30 for a batch of petitioners, including the five. Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya had clubbed together more than 20 petitions filed by hawkers at different stations.

The eviction drive began in the third week of May, soon after the regime change in Bengal. It started at Howrah and Sealdah before moving to Jadavpur, Dum Dum Junction and now Park Circus. Railway sources said Ballygunge and Dhakuria are next.

Stay extended

The matter came up for hearing before Justice Partha Sarathi Sen in Calcutta High Court on Monday.

“The court extended the interim stay on some evictions till July 31. The remaining cases will be heard again on Tuesday,” said Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya, counsel for a section of hawkers challenging the eviction drive.

Former chief minister Mamata Banerjee had walked 1.5km from Esplanade to Wellington Square on June 17 to protest the eviction of hawkers.

Hawkers along the tracks between Dhakuria and Ballygunge have also been served notices, railway officials said.

“Police are making announcements on mics that we have to move away. Where do we go?” asked a hawker at
Ballygunge.