KOLKATA: A fresh wave of encroachment has hit the city's pavements. Wannabe hawkers have occupied vantage spots with an eye on a long-term right to do business on Kolkata's streets.
The surge in the number of hawkers has been triggered by chief minister Mamata Banerjee's pre-civic poll promise to register hawkers and hand out ID cards, which will not only make their trade legitimate but also entitle them to several social benefits.
Though fresh encroachment is happening across the city, it is most pronounced in south Kolkata with new faces laying claim to portions of the pavement in Tollygunge, Southern Avenue and Sarat Bose Road.
At Tollygunge, proper shops have come up on the pavement before the Metro station. They are not makeshift bamboo and plastic sheet structures, but wood and metal stalls that can be locked after business hours. While some of the stalls have already been occupied, some are waiting to open.
"Earlier, the stalls here were not contiguous. There was a lot of space between the stalls. Since April, the empty spaces have been occupied. While most of the space has been handed over to new hawkers, there are also some old hawkers who spotted an opportunity to expand their business and have taken up additional space," said a hawker who has recently set up a pan shop near the Metro station main gate.
Food is the dominant business among hawkers in this stretch, with all types of snacks on offer, from fruit juice to noodles, momo, pasta and various types of fries. There are several other businesses that are flourishing, including stationary shops, which sell mobile and DTH recharge coupons.
"It is the INTTUC union that decided to set up 30 new stalls in this 50-metre stretch. I began doing business last week," said a fast food stall owner, who has another stall on the other side of the same pavement.
On Sarat Bose Road, as well as alleys off Rash Behari Avenue, pavement barber stalls appear to be the new in-thing. By way of furniture, they hook a small mirror on a wall or nail it to a tree trunk, set up a chair opposite it and start their business.
Most of these shops have mushroomed after KMC put up huge hoardings announcing a month-long registration drive to enlist all hawkers, irrespective of when they began their business. With the registration set to end on September 15, hordes of unemployed youths are occupying footpaths to get enlisted.
On Southern Avenue, the hawker encroachment is more subtle. Here, hawkers are eyeing prime spots around the Lake Kali temple. While there were stalls that sold flowers, sweets and puja paraphernalia, new stalls are stocking stationary goods. A couple of tea shops have also come up here.
Lake Kali temple authorities are apprehensive of being besieged by hawkers and have appealed for help to civic officials.
"KMC must act to restrain hawkers. The civic authority should demarcate hawking and no-hawking zones in the city to stop rampant all-round encroachment," an official from the temple said.
That is what Shaktiman Ghosh, leader of Hawker Sangram Committee — one of the biggest hawker unions in the state — points to as well. "The CM's initiative and the KMC's registration drive are illegal. According to the Supreme Court order, a town vending committee has to be formed that will decide on hawking zones and oversee the relocation of hawkers to the identified zones. Though we have been pressing for the setting up of the committee for past two years, the government and KMC have turned a deaf ear. Instead, they have announced registration to provide social security and that has led to a quantum jump in hawker count," he said.
Surveys conducted in 1996, 2010 and 2014 by Hawker Sangram Committee show a sharp rise in the last four years. The hawkers count increased by 1.05 lakh in 14 years, but since 2010, it has shot up to 3.50 lakh (a rise of 75,000 in four years). If this continues, there will be 5 lakh hawkers here by 2020.
While rising unemployment because of closure of factories and lack of job opportunities hahas forced many to take up hawking, the government's soft stand has encouraged the spurt.
The big surge started around four years ago, coinciding with the Trinamool Congress victory in KMC elections in 2010 and got a further fillip after the party swept to power in the assembly elections a year later.
Now with Mamata announcing social security measures, many fear even the few footpaths that remain now will be taken over by hawkers.
The CM's initiative and the KMC's registration drive are illegal. According to the Supreme Court order, a town vending committee has to be formed that will decide on hawking zones and oversee the relocation of hawkers to the identified zones. Though we have been pressing for the setting up of the committee for past two years, the government and KMC have turned a deaf ear
Shaktiman Ghosh | hawker sangram committee
Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com
The surge in the number of hawkers has been triggered by chief minister Mamata Banerjee's pre-civic poll promise to register hawkers and hand out ID cards, which will not only make their trade legitimate but also entitle them to several social benefits.
Though fresh encroachment is happening across the city, it is most pronounced in south Kolkata with new faces laying claim to portions of the pavement in Tollygunge, Southern Avenue and Sarat Bose Road.
At Tollygunge, proper shops have come up on the pavement before the Metro station. They are not makeshift bamboo and plastic sheet structures, but wood and metal stalls that can be locked after business hours. While some of the stalls have already been occupied, some are waiting to open.
"Earlier, the stalls here were not contiguous. There was a lot of space between the stalls. Since April, the empty spaces have been occupied. While most of the space has been handed over to new hawkers, there are also some old hawkers who spotted an opportunity to expand their business and have taken up additional space," said a hawker who has recently set up a pan shop near the Metro station main gate.
Food is the dominant business among hawkers in this stretch, with all types of snacks on offer, from fruit juice to noodles, momo, pasta and various types of fries. There are several other businesses that are flourishing, including stationary shops, which sell mobile and DTH recharge coupons.
"It is the INTTUC union that decided to set up 30 new stalls in this 50-metre stretch. I began doing business last week," said a fast food stall owner, who has another stall on the other side of the same pavement.
On Sarat Bose Road, as well as alleys off Rash Behari Avenue, pavement barber stalls appear to be the new in-thing. By way of furniture, they hook a small mirror on a wall or nail it to a tree trunk, set up a chair opposite it and start their business.
Most of these shops have mushroomed after KMC put up huge hoardings announcing a month-long registration drive to enlist all hawkers, irrespective of when they began their business. With the registration set to end on September 15, hordes of unemployed youths are occupying footpaths to get enlisted.
On Southern Avenue, the hawker encroachment is more subtle. Here, hawkers are eyeing prime spots around the Lake Kali temple. While there were stalls that sold flowers, sweets and puja paraphernalia, new stalls are stocking stationary goods. A couple of tea shops have also come up here.
Lake Kali temple authorities are apprehensive of being besieged by hawkers and have appealed for help to civic officials.
"KMC must act to restrain hawkers. The civic authority should demarcate hawking and no-hawking zones in the city to stop rampant all-round encroachment," an official from the temple said.
That is what Shaktiman Ghosh, leader of Hawker Sangram Committee — one of the biggest hawker unions in the state — points to as well. "The CM's initiative and the KMC's registration drive are illegal. According to the Supreme Court order, a town vending committee has to be formed that will decide on hawking zones and oversee the relocation of hawkers to the identified zones. Though we have been pressing for the setting up of the committee for past two years, the government and KMC have turned a deaf ear. Instead, they have announced registration to provide social security and that has led to a quantum jump in hawker count," he said.
Surveys conducted in 1996, 2010 and 2014 by Hawker Sangram Committee show a sharp rise in the last four years. The hawkers count increased by 1.05 lakh in 14 years, but since 2010, it has shot up to 3.50 lakh (a rise of 75,000 in four years). If this continues, there will be 5 lakh hawkers here by 2020.
While rising unemployment because of closure of factories and lack of job opportunities hahas forced many to take up hawking, the government's soft stand has encouraged the spurt.
The big surge started around four years ago, coinciding with the Trinamool Congress victory in KMC elections in 2010 and got a further fillip after the party swept to power in the assembly elections a year later.
Now with Mamata announcing social security measures, many fear even the few footpaths that remain now will be taken over by hawkers.
The CM's initiative and the KMC's registration drive are illegal. According to the Supreme Court order, a town vending committee has to be formed that will decide on hawking zones and oversee the relocation of hawkers to the identified zones. Though we have been pressing for the setting up of the committee for past two years, the government and KMC have turned a deaf ear
Shaktiman Ghosh | hawker sangram committee
Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com
No comments:
Post a Comment