Leather market pits TMC union against KMC

KOLKATA: The century-old Birshulhat leather market on Dr Suresh Sarkar Street, Kolkata's last-remaining retail and wholesale leather market, is now at crossroads, pitting the ruling Trinamool Congress's INTTUC at loggerheads with the party-controlled Kolkata Muncipal Corporation.
Nearly 800 small-time traders here are demanding they be relocated to the sprawling ­ but abandoned ­ Vidyasagar Mancha built in 1993 by the Left Front-ruled KMC.The KMC, however, is considering relocating the Beniapukur police station there. The stand-off flared again on Thursday with the INTTUC-controlled hawkers' union reaffirming their stand to the traders that rehabilitation has to precede eviction. Senior cabinet minister Subrata Mukherjee is the union's chairperson.Responsible for safeguarding hawkers' rights while aligning with the KMC's agenda is a key Mukherjee aide, a veteran trade unionist himself, Pramathes Sen. “In 1993, the then Left-run KMC bo ard with Prasanta Chatterjee at the helm decided to build a community centre in this sprawling 4-bigha plot. It was doomed from the start. We had agitated then (under the Congress-affiliated INTUC banner) against the move to relocate the hawkers, mostly minorities,“ Sen said. KMC then accommodated 20 traders, allocating them groundfloor stalls in the building. But then the plan was dropped midway . In 2000, with TMC's Subrata Mukherjee as the mayor, a proposal was floated to the Left Front government to relocate the hawkers near the CIT Road, Ladies Park.The state then shot it down.
The trigger for the latest unrest is a reported proposal by the KMC to relocate the Beniapukur police station there. The restiveness among the hawkers saw some threatening to “forcibly oc cupy“ the Vidyasagar Mancha. Sen says: “Some elements are fanning unrest. However, we have assured the hawkers there will be no relocation without rehabilitation.“
Sen understands this pits him directly against his own party ruled KMC. “Didi in November 1996 espoused this line in the face of Operation Sunshine. So how can this be deemed to be anti-party . If development forms our party agenda, so is the interests of poor traders here,“ he argues.
The veteran leader can't be ignored. The Sen-led union is formally registered union (no 23712) and is legally affiliated to the INTTUC (no 509). It was Mukherjee, the union chairperson, who had unfurled the party flag at the union's office at P-853 CIT Road.
Birshulhat market, is not only a retail and wholesale leather hub for small-time traders, but forms a secondary market for big leather industry players. The market on KMC land occupies a vast stretch off CIT Road, even spilling into the doorsteps of residential buildings dotting the belt.