The pavements just outside the gates of several Metro stations are almost blocked by hawkers.

They have set up stalls on both sides of the pavements, violating the 5-ft distance rule set by the city’s town vending committee.

Commuters rushing to catch a train have to jostle through this maze of wares, sellers and buyers.

A south Calcutta resident who uses the Kalighat Metro station daily complained about the severe inconvenience of reaching the station. She said what has made matters worse is that stalls are present on both sides of the pavement.

“I come from Gariahat and get down at the Rashbehari crossing. As I walk towards the Metro station’s gate, there are stalls all along the way. Closer to the station’s gate, the passage gets narrower,” said the woman.

“There are stalls on both sides of the pavements,” she said.

Many of the stalls sell electronic products as well as covers for mobile phones.

“In the evenings, the stalls have customers almost always. They stand on the pavement. If there are customers of stalls opposite each other standing on the pavement, it leaves hardly any space for those walking on the pavement,” said the woman.

It becomes difficult for even one person to walk through the narrow strip of the pavement that remains free.

When commuters are heading to the station and coming out of it, they have to jostle past each other.

Hawkers’ stalls in front of the Kalighat Metro Rail station on Rashbehari Avenue

Commuters using the Esplanade Metro station shared a similar plight.

The gate of the station, nearest to Oberoi Grand, has hardly any space to walk on the pavement. There are stalls opposite each other.

A regular commuter said kiosks are selling fast food items that are present on one side of the pavement. The other side is occupied by stalls selling garments.

“In between, there is space for hardly one person to pass. When customers are standing outside these stalls, then even one person cannot walk comfortably,” said a man.

The town vending committee of Calcutta had passed a resolution saying that hawkers cannot set up stalls within 5ft from the gates of schools, colleges, shopping centres and other institutions.

The same rule also applies to the case of gates of Metro railway stations, said Shaktiman Ghosh, a hawker union leader and a member of the vending committee.

The Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014, has empowered vending committees across the country to make decisions in relation to hawkers.

The committees have senior officials of municipal bodies, hawkers, police and NGOs among their members.

“We have passed the resolution that stalls should not remain within 5ft from
a gate. If that is not implemented, the authorities must act against errant hawkers,” said Ghosh.

A senior KMC official told Metro that special drives are conducted to stop violations of street vending rules. “People can lodge a complaint with the town vending committee or with the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC),” said a senior KMC official.

At many places, the hawkers have also occupied more than one-third of the pavement, which has further shrunk the pavement outside the stations.

The street vending rules, notified by the state government in 2018, mentioned that hawkers must limit their stalls to one-third of the width of a pavement, leaving at least two-thirds of the width of a pavement free for pedestrians.

But this rule is flouted on all pavements, and more so on pavements outside Metro stations.