MM : BMC takes on police in hawker eviction case : Aug 31, 2007
BMC takes on police in hawker eviction case
SUDHIR SURYAWANSHI
Illegal roadside eateries in wards C, F (North) and H (West) of the city
are still doling out street food and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation
is blaming it on the police. BMC officials are claiming that the police have
not been co-operating with them to wipe out hawkers from these three wards.
Out of original 1,500 illegal eateries, 361 food stalls still remain in
these wards. The BMC is planning to file an affidavit in the Supreme Court
on September 5.
The apex court had asked the police to take active part in the drive
against illegal hawkers. Dr S S Kudalkar, deputy municipal commissioner
(hawkers), said, “Though they did help BMC to take action against
unauthorised hawkers, the police also registered cases against 11 civic
staffers. This will make it difficult for us to remove all illegal hawkers
across the city.”
“Six BMC employees from the hawkers department were assaulted by the
hawkers last month and the police did not help us,” Kudalkar said.
The BMC is also maintaining a log-book of action taken against illegal
hawkers. “The affidavit file is ready and we will tell the court that we
were unable to meet our target due to the non-co-operation of the police. We
have done our job perfectly,” said Kudalkar.
BLACKLISTING HAWKERS
The BMC plans to blacklist hawkers who return to the roads, permanently
debarring them from applying for a licence to set up shops. The BMC also
plans to photograph illegal hawkers and keep a record of their names,
addresses and signatures. It will then submit this information to a
three-member committee, appointed by the Supreme Court.
The committee has been assigned the job of determining hawking and
non-hawking zones. While allotting space for hawkers, the committee will
rule out those who have been blacklisted. “We have already informed the
committee about 400 such hawkers,” said a senior BMC official.
BMC says police is not co-operating in drive to remove hawkers from three
wards despite SC orders
Publication:Mumbai Mirror ; Date:Aug 31, 2007; Section:City; Page Number:6