Lack of KMC norms leads hawkers to keep looking for alternatives to plastic
Hawkers at Gariahat continued to find alternatives to plastic sheets as roofs and covers for their makeshift stalls
KOLKATA: Hawkers at Gariahat continued to find alternatives to plastic sheets as roofs and covers for their makeshift stalls, with some using advertisement flexes and fibre sheets, like the ones being used in Hatibagan, on wooden frameworks. Some hawkers, though, were still using plastic sheets and had covered them with bedsheets and sacks.“Everyone is waiting for a clear instruction from the KMC. They are yet to specify an alternative to plastic. But we have decided to make the entire Gariahat market plasticfree. Some of the hawkers may still be using it, but they have already been asked to take them down within a day or two,” said Debraj Ghosh, the secretary of Gariahat Indira Hawkers’ Union.
The next few weeks will tell us whether there is any intent to clear the city of the hawker mess. Street vendors are a part of Kolkata and its economy and add to its urban experience. The objection is to the unchecked proliferation of hawkers and hawking zones on space meant for other citizens as well as the hazards they expose other citizens to (as the recent Gariahat case has showed). Civic authorities must keep this in mind.
Times View
Sunday marked a week of the fire at a trademark building on Gariahat crossing, which rendered 26 families homeless and gutted two iconic sari stores and 52 hawking stalls. A day after the fire, KMC officials drafted a set of norms banning use of plastic at the makeshift stalls, pushed all hawkers 50 feet from all major crossings and suggested use of carts in place of immovable stalls.
The introduction of carts has already missed two deadlines — Thursday and Sunday. “The first design was scrapped and underwent some major changes. The carts are likely to be inaugurated on Tuesday,” said a KMC official.
Meanwhile, more hawkers have returned to the spot around the building where the 52 gutted stalls were located. While hawkers were already back on the pavement between Gariahat crossing and Gariahat AC Market on Thursday, more started selling their wares using the police barricades around the building as hangers on Sunday. “How long can we stay away from doing business? We have families to feed,” said a bag seller.
On Sunday, the union leaders also held a meeting with the 150-odd hawkers who were removed from the spot during the implementation of the 50-feet rule. “We are preparing a list of these hawkers and will submit it to mayor Firhad Hakim this week. He will have to decide the fate of these hawkers. We cannot throw anyone out of business just like that. Gariahat is the only hawking zone in the city that has cleared the crossing. How can others remain unaffected by the diktat? Rules should be same for everyone,” added Ghosh.
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