Hawkers continue to occupy portions of roads and extend their stalls beyond the permitted limits on pavements, a visit to some of Calcutta’s busiest shopping districts on Sunday revealed.

The violations were almost the same at Gariahat, Hatibagan and New Market.

Hawker leaders said they opposed vendors setting up stalls on roads or occupying more than one-third of a footpath’s width. However, they acknowledged that such norms are routinely flouted across the city.

At Gariahat, the pavements around the busy crossing were lined with hawker stalls on both sides, leaving only a narrow passage for pedestrians.

A similar situation prevailed along stretches near Anandamela, Traders Assembly and Select Stores, where hawkers occupied large sections of the footpath, restricting space for pedestrians.

Near Gariahat Market, a couple of fruit stalls had occupied more than half the pavement’s width, leaving a barely three-foot-wide passage for pedestrians.

Many people were seen walking on the road rather than squeezing through the narrow space between customers gathered at the stalls and shoppers entering or exiting the shops opposite the hawker stands.

The situation was worse in New Market and Hatibagan.

At Hatibagan, several hawkers had set up stalls along Bidhan Sarani, with vendors seated on stools placed on the carriageway.

Hawkers’ stalls in in Hatibagan.

Customers browsing or making purchases also stood on the road, effectively narrowing the available space for vehicular traffic and adding to congestion in the area.

The same stretch also had a second row of stalls opening onto the pavement, creating a double layer of encroachment. Long stretches of footpaths in Hatibagan were lined with two rows of hawker stalls, leaving little room for pedestrians.

In some areas, vendors had extended their operations onto the carriageway, with stalls set up directly on the road. At New Market, hundreds of stalls were set up on Bertram Street and Humayun Place like every other day.

On Wednesday, chief minister Suvendu Adhikari spoke about the condition of the New Market area while stressing that no one had the right to encroach on the pavements of Calcutta.

“The people did not make me the chief minister so that you would take over the road in New Market in a way that even motorcycles cannot pass; (so that) Rajabazar would go out of control (and) you will do whatever you like in Kidderpore and Metiabruz,” he said.

Ashok Gupta, president of the SS Hogg Market Traders’ Association, said the association had already written to the authorities of the new BJP government, highlighting the difficulties faced by traders and shopowners in the area because of hawker encroachment.

“We have written to the chief minister, the chief secretary, the police commissioner and the municipal commissioner, highlighting the problem in New Market. We have requested them to take action as per the law,” he said.

Suvendu also stressed the rights of pedestrians to use pavements without obstruction. “People have a right to walk on pavements. No one has the right to encroach on a pavement. The people have elected me; I am accountable to the people,” he added.

The Street Vending Rules, framed by the state government in 2018, stipulate that hawkers may occupy no more than one-third of the width of a pavement and must leave the remaining space unobstructed for pedestrians.

The rules also prohibit vendors from setting up stalls on carriageways or encroaching on any part of a road.