A yellow line drawn by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) on pavements to restrict hawkers has worn out but the street vendors continue to occupy more than a third of the width of the pavements in the New Market area and along SN Banerjee Road.
In the New Market area, hawkers still occupy roads defying orders to move.
The non-adherence to rules raises questions about the result of the entire exercise of drawing the yellow lines.
The civic body drew yellow lines on four roads in the New Market area — Humayun Place, Bertram Street, Chowringhee Place and Lindsay Street — in January. A yellow line was also drawn on the southern pavement along SN Banerjee Road in February.
The lines divided the pavements into two. Hawkers were supposed to keep their stalls within a third of a pavement and leave the rest free for pedestrians.
The street vending rules prepared by the state government have made it mandatory to keep at least two-thirds of the width of a pavement free for pedestrians.
“I do not see any change in the size or position of the hawker’s stalls on the pavement along SN Banerjee Road where the yellow line was drawn,” said a state government employee who walks down SN Banerjee Road to the Esplanade Metro station every day.
“More than half the pavement is occupied by vendors. There is space for only one person to walk. I doubt whether the KMC is serious about enforcing the rule or just drawing the yellow line to give an impression that they are doing something,” said the government employee who requested not to be named.
Metro visited the pavements where the yellow lines were drawn. Hawkers have set up stalls with their wares on Humayun Place and Bertram Street. The stalls extended beyond one-third width of a pavement along Lindsay Street.
On Chowringee Place, however, most hawkers stayed inside the one-third line.
On the pavement along SN Banerjee Road, between the Dorina Crossing and Janbazar, the problems were varied. The number of hawkers was few on this stretch and most of them were sitting on the side meant for pedestrians.
On some stretches along SN Banerjee Road, there were stalls that had wooden racks fitted to the walls of buildings along the pavement. The man who was running one such stalls said: “I have been running this shop for 28 years. I do not know why the CMC drew the yellow line opposite my shop. If a hawker sits on the opposite side, there will be no space left for pedestrians.”
The stall was on the side meant for pedestrians and it occupied nearly half the width of the pavement.
The yellow lines were drawn by the CMC after the city’s town vending committee approved that such lines should be drawn on pavements to limit hawkers within one-third width of the sidewalks.
The committee has been empowered by The Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014, to take all decisions regarding hawkers.
Debashis Kumar, mayoral council member of the CMC who is in charge of hawker-related matters, told Metro that he would raise the issue in the next meeting of the town vending committee.
“The committee has to decide what to do if the hawkers do not follow the rules. The matter will be discussed in the next week’s meeting of the town vending committee,” said Kumar, who is co-chairperson of the committee.
Asked if the hawkers will be given a deadline to follow the rules, Kumar said: “it will depend on the committee.”
