Mumbai: Cracking down on illegal hawkers, BMC H (west) ward in Bandra has said that it will cancel licences of shop owners on Hill Road who encourage hawkers by renting their shops. The decision was taken after MLA Ashish Shelar Tuesday met Vinayak Vispute, assistant commissioner, H (west) ward, along with Manjunath Singe, DCP Zone IX and various resident groups from Bandra, Khar and Santacruz belt.
Shelar said that shop owners who are aiding hawkers should be criminalised or issued a show-cause notice. “Those found grossly violating rules should be delicensed. For licensed hawkers, some rehabilitation plan needs to be worked out with the support of BMC,” said Shelar.
Rohinton Polishwalla, a resident of Hill Road, said that the menace, which has been present for decades, has taken a different turn as hawkers are now in connivance with shopkeepers who rent out their shops. “The hawkers have become financially capable to an extent that they rent shops. Hawkers fit in multiple stalls inside one shop. At least, 15 stalls selling different items operate out of one shop and even spill outside the shop areas, at the mouth of the footpath,” said Polishwalla, who voiced his concerns at the meeting.
Citing an example, Polishwalla said a chemist who was operating on Hill Road for 40 years shut the shop and rented it for ₹2-3 lakh per month, which he couldn’t earn otherwise. “Hawker unions rent out the shop from owners and sub-let it to several hawkers and earn a huge sum collectively,” he added.
Daylyn Rodrigues, another Bandra resident, said, “There is a new modus-operandi wherein hawkers sell their wares on the motorbike. BMC cannot penalise these people as they cannot take the bike away. Hawkers plonk the wares onto their bikes and sell them.” In addition to regular shops, the telephone booths meant for the disabled have also been rented to able-bodied hawkers, Rodrigues said.
Vinayak Vispute, assistant commissioner, H (west) ward, said, “If commercial shop owners help hawkers, we will take stringent action and they will be liable for cancellation of their licenses. In case of hawkers operating in housing societies, we will alert members not to entertain hawkers.”
The meeting was attended by 93-year-old veteran activist Anandini Thakoor and Madhu Poplai of Pali Hill Residents’ Association. Besides, the issue of hawkers from Bandstand promenade, Hill road, Linking Road, KFC in Khar west, Pali Market road and Bandra Reclamation were also discussed in the meeting.
Meanwhile, plans are afoot to revive the proposal to relocate Linking Road licensed vendors to the proposed underground parking lot at Patwardhan Park. “The plan to relocate Linking Road hawkers to underground parking and hawking plaza below Patwardhan Park will also take shape,” confirmed Shelar.
Voices:
> I don’t indulge in this practice of encouraging hawkers. The BMC should also take action against the secretary of societies that allot compound spaces to hawkers for parking. How is that allowed by the BMC? Businesses of shops in the buildings are hampered because of that — Francis Dias, owner of Dias Tailors shop on Hill Road
> Hawker menace is a big issue. We welcome BMC’s decision to cancel licenses of shop owners who encourage hawkers — Parshu Bhai, owner of Elco restaurant on Hill Road
> Hawkers rent open areas of the building on Hill Road. Besides, open areas of the shop and the inside space are also given on rent for ₹700 per day — Faisal Qureshi, president of Linking Road licensed stall owners’ Association