Why Mumbai has turned against its hawkers

Footpaths for us My footrdquo said a Dadar resident encapsulating pedestriansrsquo frustration at the lack of space for walking in the city If pavements do not exist or are uneven on many stretches the ones existing are occupied by hawkers sparking daily confrontations While citizens accuse roadside vendors of forcing them to walk on roads urban planners say roadside vendors are a part of the cityrsquos economy and a robust hawkersrsquo policy will strike a balance between both sidesSuresh Lad who met with an accident while walking outside Borivli station in May PicAnurag AhireAs part of its series lsquoNowhere to Gorsquo midday visited a few busy pockets in the city and found that though the places have pavements pedestrians barely have access to these sidewalksAll occupiedOne of the busiest suburbs in the city thousands of people struggle to cross the SV Road on the west side to access the Borivali station daily The station area has a wholesale vegetable and fruit market in the early mornings Once operations of this market are done for the day hawkers take over the area There is a subway and a skywalk outside the station but they are favourite spots of people doing drugs and beggarsldquoShow me a footpath in Borivali that is free for a walk BMC spends crores of taxpayersrsquo money on repairing and increasing the width of roads but all the roads are occupied by hawkersrdquo said Borivli resident Suresh LadScene outside Borivli station on the west side which is a lsquono hawkerrsquo zone PicAnurag AhireLad said traffic cops ask hawkers to move to the pavements while BMC officials tell them to spill onto the roads ldquoIn the end they occupy both roads as well as footpaths forcing pedestrians to walk in the middle of the road amid speeding vehicles The BMC put railings on footpaths to keep away hawkers but it makes the footpath even more congestedrdquo he saidLad said he has had two encounters with speeding vehicles so far including one in May ldquoI was walking avoiding hawkers selling garments and my foot was run over by an autorickshaw Autos menace is another issue but no one has the time to look at itrdquo said Lad Anil Vora who is fighting illegal hawkers in his neighbourhood in Kandivli West said ldquoThey pavements are built for hawkers only and not for pedestrians Everyone BMC police and citizens knows that these all are illegal hawkers yet there has been no action despite several complaints over the yearsrdquo Vora added ldquoNot just footpaths even bus stops are occupied by hawkers and bus passengers have to stand on roads as they wait for buses It occurred in front of the Borivali police station and courtrdquoParking spills onto sidewalksKnown for its fashion market the footpaths on Hill Road Bandra teem with vendors In some places vehicles have been parked on the pavements The worrying part is that many locals and activists have been assaulted for complaining about footpath encroachmentldquoI can understand vegetable or fruit stalls in localised areas but these shops are for clothes shoes and jewellery and people from all over the city come here BMC has to make some provisions for them in nearby areas If people come from Dahisar to Goregaon to shop here they can go to any nearby spots alsordquo said activist Vidya VaidyaLocals say no action has been taken despite repeated complaints about roadside vendors on Hill Road Bandra PicShadab KhanShe said Hill Road has a parking plaza but few use it ldquoWe try to avoid Hill Road but our utility services like banks and medical shops are on that road So we make plans like visiting the shops at 9 in the morning so that the road is empty but at that time the bank is closed Then we think of going there at 10 am but the road becomes busy by the time we return It is so chaotic We filed many complaints with the police and BMC but nothing happened BMC says it is a police matter while cops ask us if they are there to control crime or hawkers In the end there is no one to solve the issuerdquoRohington Polishwala a resident of Hill Road said ldquoEverybody knows that there is a nexus between hawkers and authorities BMC says they can give a van till 7 pm only and we should go to the police The police say this is the responsibility of the BMC We cannot go on a morning walk because of the mess left behind by hawkersrdquoldquoWe were attacked by hawkers in 2020 and when we went to the police station they didnrsquot even take an NC We are fed up with the increasing nuisance and I try not to stay in Bandra on Saturdays and Sundays Sometimes we dial 100 Police come and do a little action here and there but nobody really bothers We tried to approach higher authorities but it had no longterm effectrdquo he saidHawkers are not always the villainsTown planners also stress the need for creating space for hawkers so that footpaths remain free for pedestrians ldquoHawkers are an integral part of our city economy They come in the way of walkers on pavements because of the governmentrsquos failure in planning to take all existing realities into accountrdquo said P K Das a renowned town planner He said inclusive and comprehensive planning of cities is important ldquorather much neededrdquoDayashankar Singh founder of Azad Hawkers Union said ldquoThose hawkers who are not involved in any corruption with the local administration occupy limited space but those who are lsquoclosersquo to officials spread their business Itrsquos a fact Had the BMC implemented the hawkersrsquo policy and allotted space to licensee hawkers it could have easily taken action against the illegal onesrdquoAsheesh Sharma additional municipal commissioner said ldquoUrban Development Dept has given approval for including corporators in the town vending committee and we have started the process of implementing the town vending actrdquoWherersquos the road hereOne can barely see the road leave alone footpaths near Dadar station Local resident Paresh Kochrekar said ldquoEverybody knows about it but no one takes action Footpaths were gone many years ago now the whole road at Kabutarkhana is captured by hawkers The stretch is less than 100 metres but you need at least 10 minutes to cross it that too not before getting pushed by othersrdquoDadar man Paresh Kochrekar says it takes over 10 mins to walk 100 metres at Kabutarkhana PicAshish RajeWorli resident Sanjeev Bhandari says the station road area is the most difficult stretch to walk ldquoNot just hawkers taxis and buses also ply on this road If somebody has an emergency he cannot get out of the crowd even after 1015 minutes If you walk from the Suvidha shop to the flower market parallel to the flyover you will feel suffocated and your BP will surely shoot up Peak hours are even more severe People literally fall on one another and many stampedelike incidents have occurred in this areardquo said BhandariHowever Bhandari has some compassion for hawkers ldquoIf these people get space near the station like a hawkersrsquo plaza customers will obviously go to the plaza These hawkers are doing business to earn their livelihoods If we as a society and the government cannot provide them with livelihoods then how can we just shoo them awayrdquoHawkersrsquo Policy hangs fireAfter the Street Vendors Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending Act was passed in 2014 and following a Supreme Court order the BMC distributed 128443 forms to hawkers in 2016 While 99435 hawkers submitted their forms 15361 were found to be eligible in 2020 apart from 15000 licensed vendors in the city BMC marked 85891 pitches across Mumbai it dropped to 30830 after citizens objected The process then stopped Following corporatorsrsquo demand in October 2020 that they be made members of zonal level Town Vending Committees The BMC sought clarity from the urban development department30830No of hawker pitches identified by BMC