Mumbai hawkers to remain as policy likely to be delayed by a year

After three-year delay in implementing hawkers' policy, BMC now wants state to form a Town Vending Committee to conduct more surveys

The civic body has gone into overdrive, cracking the whip on hawkers and encroachers near railway stations and on bridges, after 23 people were killed in the Elphinstone Road stampede last month. But, BMC sources say, it could be another year before the much-required hawkers' policy is implemented. It has already been delayed for three years.

Proposed in 2014, it was met with opposition from several quarters, delaying its implementation. Now, the BMC has sent a proposal to the state to form a Town Vending Committee (TVC), which will outline the framework of the hawkers' policy after conducting crucial surveys.

Hawkers outside Chembur station before the BMC cracked the whip on encroachers, following the stampede. Representation pic

The TVC is likely to conduct surveys to identify street vendors, issue certificates to eligible hawkers, recommend areas to be declared non-hawking zones, demarcate spaces for hawking and regulate timings.

Also Read: Mumbai: BMC Wakes Up To Action Against Hawkers At Night

The committee
A BMC official said, "The proposal to form a six-member TVC, to be governed by the BMC chief, has been sent to the government. The TVC will include top officials like the police chief, traffic police chief, MMRDA commissioner, a few NGO members, besides key members of hawkers' organisations. The process of selecting the members is underway."

Another BMC official, however, said, "Even if the committee is approved, the entire chunk of research is yet to be started. Most of the previous surveys have been rendered useless owing to the delay in policy implementation. It's unlikely that the policy will be implemented before a year."

Also Read: Mumbai: BMC Wakes Up To Action Against Hawkers At Night

Old figures
The hawkers' policy will be based on the Street Vendors (Protection Of Livelihood And Regulation Of Street Vending) Act, 2014. Under the new policy, hawkers will be divided into three categories – mobile hawkers, stationary hawkers and permanent hawkers.

The BMC had conducted a survey in 2014, which revealed that the city was home to one lakh hawkers. The policy implementation, however, was delayed as BMC officials said the state had failed to outline guidelines for the scheme.

The Elphinstone bridge stampede on September 29 left 23 people dead

Sources said the BMC now intends to go ahead with the old figures to implement the policy at the earliest, but hawkers' unions have demanded a fresh survey. Speaking to mid-day, a union member said, "The previous survey is three years old and irrelevant now. As per the National Hawkers Policy, 3 per cent of the total population in a city should be hawkers. Therefore, 3 lakh hawkers are allowed to operate in Mumbai."

A senior civic official, however, said, "After the TVC is formed, we will urge the members to go ahead with the old survey figures in order to save time. The idea is to implement the policy as soon as possible."

Superintendent of the licence department, Sharad Bande, said, "We are yet to receive the approval for the committee formation. We will take it forward from there."

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