The city’s town vending committee decided on Thursday to shift hawkers from the Oberoi Grand Arcade in phases to enable the repair and restoration of the iconic Esplanade hotel.

The hawkers are likely to come back once the repairs on that portion are completed.

Debashis Kumar, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation mayoral council member in charge of hawker-related matters, said the Oberoi Grand authorities have been asked to submit a schedule of their repairs.

Kumar said an Oberoi Grand representative told them that the work will be done in four phases.

Metro reported on January 26 that Oberoi Grand had written to the Kolkata Municipal Corporation and Kolkata Police, seeking help in shifting hawkers from the arcade for the repairs.

There are over 110 hawkers in the Grand arcade.

A lawyer for the hotel, who wrote to the KMC and the police, told this newspaper last month that the repairs to the columns were delayed due to the stalls around them. The hotel wants the area cordoned off to allow work to proceed safely.

“ Once the repairs are completed, the hawkers will be brought back,” said Kumar.

Kumar said they had yet to decide where the hawkers would be shifted during the repairs.