The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC's) hawker registration exercise is getting murkier by the day. More and more illegal hawkers are bullying civic officials and local associations for getting themselves registered. Illegal hawkers are even getting violent and are insisting that their names are on the list along with legal hawkers.
On Sunday, shopkeepers on Station Road in Malad West were assaulted when they tried to stop illegal hawkers from getting registered. "Illegal hawkers from nowhere turned up when the registration process was on. They started occupying vacant spaces outside a few of the jewellery shops. The jewellers objected to this and conveyed to the civic staff that these hawkers never existed there before. This irked the hawkers and at least seven-eight of them attacked three shop owners," said a member of Malad Shopkeepers' Association.
On Saturday, at least 500-600 hawkers gathered outside Nadco shopping centre in Andheri West and insisted that their names are on the list. "All these hawkers, who are insisting that they be issued registration forms and their names be included in the list, are bogus. They don't have proofs. But BMC has no mechanism to screen them at this stage. The situation is getting out of hands of the civic body and the police, and coming days are bound to get even murkier," said a member of Andheri Shopkeepers' Association.
President of the Federation of Retail Traders Welfare Association (FRTWA) Viren Shah, who is also a member of Town Vending Committee, said by not taking action against the violent hawkers, the authorities were actually supporting them. "Since such instances are happening everywhere, we have requested the police to give protection to the civic staff while they are carrying out the registration drive," said Shah, adding that they had demanded strict action against the culprits.
BMC, police allow night vendors amidst residents' opposition
Despite objections from residents, the police and the BMC have allowed 1x1 feet pitches to set up temporary stalls in the narrow, congested lanes of Khar West. The stalls have been permitted in the name of Ramzaan and will be allowed to do business between 5pm till 3am, disturbing sleep of the residents of five congested lanes.
Civic activists from Bandra and Khar have been trying to stop this practice for the last three years. However, this is the fourth year and authorities have given permission once again. Residents have no objection to youths getting a chance to earn some money by selling stuff during Ramzaan, but their point is stalls or pitches should be allowed on wider roads like the Linking Road so that no resident is disturbed.
Congested lanes like MMK Road, National College Road and 7th Road in Khar West, where stalls have been allowed, are barely 30-foot wide and 150-foot long. However, these lanes are vital as they serve as links between SV Road and Linking Road. There is continuous flow of traffic and people come there to shop. These stalls become crowded and noisy past midnight, thereby causing problems for the residents.
"I have been objecting for four years now. The authorities even asked me to prove that Ramzaan is not a festival, which I did. It is a religious month for observing fast and abstinence. But here, local politicians, police and civic authorities are doing all wrong things in the name of festival. Offical permission is for 65-70 stalls but BMC officials and the police in connivance with politicians allow 140-150 vendors to carry out business," said Aftab Siddique, chairperson of ALM of 33rd Road Residents' Association.
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