Name: Byculla Residents Celebrate Anti-Hawker Drive, Credit Police Action For Curbing Drug Menace
Uploaded: 2026-08-03T02:00:00+05:30
Duration: 5 min 2 s
Description: The gathering, organised by the Byculla Mumbai Residents Association (BMRA) in association with St Andrew's Marathi Church and Welfare Centre, drew hundreds of local residents, who said the locality had witnessed a significant improvement following the removal of hawkers and sustained action against the alleged drug menace.

Mumbai: Residents of Agripada and Byculla gathered near Jhula Maidan on Sunday morning to celebrate what they described as a successful campaign by citizens, the police and civic authorities to free the area of unauthorised hawkers and curb the alleged drug trade.

Citizens Hail Joint Action by Police and Civic Body

The gathering, organised by the Byculla Mumbai Residents Association (BMRA) in association with St Andrew's Marathi Church and Welfare Centre, drew hundreds of local residents, who said the locality had witnessed a significant improvement following the removal of hawkers and sustained action against the alleged drug menace.

Saeed Moosa, a vegetable exporter and vice-president of the BMRA, alleged that drug peddlers had operated under the cover of hawkers.

Removal of Hawkers Improves Surveillance, Says Corporator

"Jhula Maidan is popular with children and young people who come here to play. The drug dealers targeted these youngsters. We were seeing an entire generation of college-going youth being lost to drug addiction. The police and the municipal corporation have cleared the hawkers, and I can say that around 70% of them have been removed," said Moosa.

Waqar Khan, a corporator from the area, said the presence of hawkers had made the streets chaotic and congested.

HC-Backed Drive Clears School Access Routes

"This gave cover to the drug peddlers. Now that the hawkers have been removed, the drug dealers can be identified more easily," said Khan, while alleging that drug peddlers continued to operate in the area at night.

Khan said sustained vigilance by residents and the authorities had led to a reduction in instances of both drug dealing and drug consumption.

Police Yet to Comment on Residents' Claims

Amrin Shehzad Abrahani, corporator from Ward 212, said that after the drive against hawkers was intensified after the Bombay High Court order on hawkers. "Residents approached us, saying the hawkers were blocking routes to schools. One major drug supplier has been arrested recently. The hawkers are not local and are coming from Govandi, Vashi and other places," said Abrahani.

Residents said the drive had made the area cleaner and more hygienic while easing congestion around public spaces. Advocate Cyril Dara, secretary of the BMRA and secretary of St Andrew's Marathi Church, said churchgoers had frequently faced difficulties accessing the church because of encroachments by hawkers.

"There were at least 400 to 500 hawkers on Morland Road, Maulana Azad Road and Meghraj Sethi Road. The roads are now clear for vehicles and pedestrians. We have been campaigning for this change for the last two years," said Dara.

The Senior Police Inspector of Agripada Police Station, Narayan Padwal, was unavailable for comment.

However, his predecessor, Sanjay Nale, had earlier told The Free Press Journal that the police had registered around 150 cases of drug consumption during a 10-month period beginning in January 2025—an average of one case every two days. He had said the police had been working for more than a year and a half to eradicate the problem, with the active involvement of local residents who helped identify areas where suspected drug peddlers operated.