Mumbai: The BMC on Tuesday afternoon started evicting unauthorised hawkers from Colaba Causeway - the famous shopping street in south Mumbai. The action is primarily being taken against hawkers opposite Bank of Baroda. The assistant municipal commissioner of A ward Jaideep More said that the action is not against the 256 hawkers regarding whom the hawkers union has approached the court, but only against the hawkers violating rules.
In April, the Bombay High court had ordered the BMC to clear all illegal hawkers occupying from Colaba Causeway. The official direction to evict the unlicensed hawkers, issued by the came after a long legal battle involving hawkers seeking protection from eviction.
Out of the total hawkers in the area, only 83 are licensed hawkers, BMC's survey said, as opposed to the 253 claimed by the Colaba Causeway Tourism Hawkers Stall Union (CCTHSU). The union had sought time to vacate the remaining 170 unlicensed hawkers.
The action taken on Tuesday, is said to be against the hawkers out of the 170 unlicenced ones. More information about the action is awaited.
The members of the Clean Heritage Colaba Residents Association (CHCRA) who had also approached the court seeking eviction of hawkers in the area welcomed the delayed but action finally taken by the BMC. However, raise concerns of the hawkers reinstalling their stalls, yet again occupying the footpath.
