Frustrated by the lack of response from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to repeated complaints about hawkers occupying footpaths in their vicinity, residents of Panchsheel Heights—a housing society in Mahavir Nagar, Kandivli West—have taken matters into their own hands: by hiring bouncers. The 20-year-old housing society has been struggling to keep footpath encroachers at bay since the pandemic.

After complaints are filed with the civic body, residents say hawkers temporarily vacate the area when the municipal corporation’s vehicles arrive, only to return within 15 to 20 minutes.