A report highlighted an incident in Chembur where hawkers and shop owners had an altercation. The latter accused the former of rendering their shops invisible as well as flouting the rule prohibiting hawking within 150 metres of railway stations, among others.

While this was an isolated incident, the report touched upon an overarching  problem—shops vs hawkers— that is cause for concern across the city. This paper has reported incidents in the past too, especially on the Colaba Causeway where fights have erupted between shop owners and hawkers over a number of issues.