Police on Saturday asked hawkers to move off roads and warned of action if they failed to comply, a day after chief minister Suvendu Adhikari said pavements were meant for pedestrians.

A team from Kalighat police station reached Kali Temple Road, which connects SP Mukherjee Road to Kalighat temple, and instructed hawkers to vacate the stretch.

A resident of the area, who runs a business from a building along the road, said: “Hawkers used to spread a cloth on the road and sell their wares. Our customers could not bring cars to pick up goods. The situation was getting worse.”

About 100 hawkers currently have stalls on Kali Temple Road.

The resident said hawkers had long lined the pavements along the road, but over the past two decades they had also spilled onto the carriageway.

“There has been police action earlier too, but hawkers returned within a day or two,” he said.

Across the city, hawkers said they were willing to comply with regulations but urged the government not to carry out a sweeping eviction drive.

Enforcement remains difficult given their numbers.

A 2024 survey estimated about 57,000 hawkers on Calcutta’s pavements, though hawker groups dispute the figure.

“Our estimate is around 1.75 lakh hawkers in Calcutta. The 2024 survey was conducted between noon and 4pm, so it missed those who sell vegetables and other goods in the morning and evening. It also did not cover smaller lanes,” said Debashis Das, a leader of the Hawker Sangram Committee, an umbrella body of more than 30 unions.

The committee has called a meeting of all members on Wednesday to decide the next course of action.

“We need to stay united. I don’t think there will be any notice. We fear police and central forces may suddenly arrive one day and evict hawkers,” said a union leader.

On Friday, the chief minister had said: “Hawkers can move to unused markets and spaces. I shall consider your case from a humanitarian aspect if you are sitting on vacant land.”