The city’s town vending committee has decided to appeal against a Calcutta High Court order asking the committee to evict hawkers from College Street.
The town vending committee members said hawkers can be restricted to a third of the width of a pavement but they cannot be evicted. They said a 2014 act empowered the committee to regulate hawkers.
Shaktiman Ghosh, a member of the committee that met on Wednesday, said the members decided to appeal against the order.
“A bench of Calcutta High Court has said hawkers should be evicted while hearing litigation related to hawkers on College Street. We will appeal against this order,” Ghosh said on Wednesday.
Ghosh referred to The Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014, which made the vending committee the sole authority that could take decisions on street vendors.
“The town vending committee of Calcutta has been formed as per guidelines of the act. Hawkers cannot be evicted. We can regulate them and ensure that they stay within one-third width of a pavement,” Ghosh said.
The vending committee comprises hawkers, NGOs, traders associations, police, Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) officials and others.
A senior official of the KMC, however, told Metro that the question of an appeal does not arise immediately. The official said the court has asked for a report from the civic body.
“In our report, we will mention that the 2014 act has made it a right for street vendors to be able to vend on pavements. We will, however, regulate them,” said the official.
The Street Vending Rules prepared by the state government based on the 2014 act made it mandatory for hawkers to set up stalls only within one-third width of a pavement. At least two-thirds of the width should be free for pedestrians. The rule is rarely followed in Calcutta.
In the New Market area, hawkers not only take up more than two-thirds of the pavements but some of them have also set up stalls on the road, like in Humayun Place and Bertram Street.
The hawkers have not moved despite the KMC asking them to vacate the roads. The town vending committee did not even discuss the New Market issue in its meeting on Wednesday.
“The encroachment of roads around New Market did not come up for discussion on Wednesday. I don’t think there will be any progress before the Lok Sabha elections are over,” said a committee member.
