Shop owners and hawkers under flyovers are worried about eviction after the Kolkata Municipal Corporation gave them seven days to vacate.

The civic body has been pasting notices under flyovers since Saturday, asking those who have set up stalls or shops under the structures to vacate within seven days.

At Kasba Kolkata Improvement Trust (KIT) Market, shop owners said they were allotted the shops in 1976 and pay monthly rent to the KIT, now merged with the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA).

“We are not illegal encroachers. We were allotted our shops by the KIT, which is a government organisation. We still pay our monthly rent to the KMDA,” said a shop owner.

Many shops have erected walls from the deck of the flyover, leaving little scope for inspection. Traders said there were over 600 stalls and shops in the market, with separate grocery, fish and vegetable sections.

KMC officials said the objective behind the notice was to keep the space under a flyover or bridge free from obstructions so that it can be inspected easily.

“Often, spalling under the flyover goes unnoticed because one cannot see it. Over time, the steel reinforcements get damaged. By the time this is noticed, the damage may have expanded. If the portion was not encroached, this problem would not arise,” said a KMC engineer.

Hawkers and shops are not the only users of space under Calcutta’s flyovers and
bridges. Some also have police outposts, parking facilities and even KMC offices that have been served eviction
notices.

“We have an office under the Brabourne Road flyover and we will remove it,” said a KMC official.

There are police outposts under the Gariahat and
Park Street flyovers, the KMC official said. Car parking facilities are also present under both these flyovers. There
is a hydraulic car parking facility under the Gariahat flyover.

Some flyovers have several hundred shops and stalls below them, like Sisir Market under the Sealdah flyover.

The state government started a health audit of bridges and flyovers in Calcutta following the collapse of the Majerhat bridge in September 2018. The structures were examined and remedial measures were suggested by a committee of engineers. The work has not been completed in the case of several bridges and flyovers.

Since the BJP government came to power in May, hawkers have been evicted from many railway stations. The latest was an eviction drive at Park Circus railway station on Saturday night.