Hawkers usurp parking space for locals, patients
December 19, 2006
The residents of Flank Road near King’s Circle station in Matunga, the crowd thronging nearby Shanmukhananda Hall, shop owners of Gandhi market and the patients of a local cardiac hospital, all have a common grievance.
About 50-odd hawkers have completely taken over an area originally meant for parking and as a result, residents, patients, shop owners and audience members alike are being forced to park their cars on the road, making the already narrow road congested and overcrowded.
In June 2000, the then assistant municipal commissioner Suhas Karvande had removed the hawkers and allotted contractors to convert the space into a pay-and-park spot. But Karvande’s successor at the Matunga ward office put an end to the plans of building a parking space and re-installed the hawkers, despite strong protests by the Flank Road Citizens’ Forum.
Iqbal Khan (25), an ambulance driver of the nearby Smt S R Mehta and Sir K P Cardiac Institute finds it difficult to even enter the hospital premises during an emergency. Most of the time, there is a traffic jam at the entrance caused by cars parked on the roads.
His woes concerning the overcrowded road is shared by twenty-four-year old Karan Behl, owner of a garment shop in nearby Gandhi market. Though Behl resides just a kilometer away from his shop, it takes him more than half-an-hour to travel the distance.
“Whenever there is a programme in Shanmukhananda hall, there is not even enough space to walk, as most of the audience park their cars on the road,” he said.
Dr Gaurang Vora, secretary of the Flank Road Citizens’ Forum said: “This is a very important area as we have Shanmukhananda hall with a seating capacity of 2,900 , a 78-bed heart hospital, 300 shops in Gandhi Market and the King’s Circle railway station located nearby, yet there is no proper provision for parking. Some years ago, a friend living near Shanmukhananda hall suffered a heart attack. But he could not be rushed to the cardiac hospital in time because of the traffic jam caused by cars parked on the roads. Moreover, senior citizens and children are forced to walk on the road as the footpaths have been taken over by hawkers. All our protests have fallen on deaf ears so far.”
Vora has even applied under the Right to Information Act to ascertain that the area used by hawkers is indeed a no-hawking zone. Newsline has a copy of the document.
But there is a ray of hope for the beleaguered residents. BMC official Suhas Karvande, who had removed the hawkers in 2000, has been shifted back to the Matunga ward office.
“I have taken charge of the ward only last month. I was not aware of hawkers coming back to the same place. I will definitely do something about it,” he said.
URL: http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=213884