Think before facilitating illegalities of hawkers

Civic offcials and cops launch a crackdown on illegal hawkers on Hill Road on Tuesday evening

Days after papers reported about a clean-up operation against hawkers, in Bandra especially, there are a few takeaways even as the overriding and justifiable response is that they will be back in a few days.

We see that citizens, who are long inured to the boomerang effect which means cleaning up the streets of hawkers only to see that they are back, were hugely sceptical of these initiatives anyway. There were also several interesting points. Some shop owners were helping hawkers by giving them space to store goods (for a fee of course). Then, there were also some housing societies that allowed hawkers to store their wares. This too, one presumes, after payment.

Usually, we see shops and hawkers at war as the former accuse the latter of obstruction, blocking visibility and for other reasons, taking away potential store customers. Shop owners are often justifiably bitter as they feel as legit, legal owners who pay taxes and are competing many a time against illegal hawkers who take over pavements and spaces right outside their shops. Housing societies often complain that hawkers store their wares inside compounds, on fences and inside the premises during late evenings and through the nights.

Yet, one has instances in which both shops and societies are actually facilitating this illegal storage by hawkers. We must see this dealt with a strong hand, otherwise it will become a pattern everywhere. Shop owners themselves will not have a leg to stand on, when one of their own is seen to be helping and in this way supporting illegal hawkers.

It is highly dangerous for societies to give their space for storage. This is an obstruction to residents who may have to leave the building quickly in an emergency situation. It is also against the law. We need hawkers in hawking zones so that there is co-existence, order, peace and commerce sans conflict.