On a day of protests and pitfalls, while several hawkers gathered at Azad Maidan to raise their objections, High Court restricts hawking to designated zones only
It was a Wednesday full of agony for city hawkers. While those who part of various hawkers' unions registered their protest against the Railways and BMC in the afternoon and asked the government to implement the Street Vendors Act, the Bombay high court restricted hawking, their livelihood, to designated zones only.
The hawkers protested at Azad Maidan. Pic/Atul Kamble
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During the protest at Azad Maidan, several union leaders addressed a crowd of over a thousand hawkers and said that despite three years of a legal act coming into place to protect their livelihoods, the government is yet to implement it. The hawkers demanded the government should refrain from carrying out any kind of action unless fresh licenses are issued.
'What is our mistake?'
Azam Shaikh, a hawkers' union leader from Chembur told the crowds, "If they [administration] don't listen to us, we will do a raasta roko andolan. These politicians are saying something and doing something else and no one is helping us. We want our rights and livelihood to be protected."
V Patil, another hawker at the protest, said, "We are soft targets for the authorities. What is our mistake? What crime have we committed? If the hawkers are gone, all of Mumbai will be shut, as a majority of the citizens buy their everyday necessities from us. This is just one protest, there will be more."
Shashank Rao, president of Mumbai Hawkers Union said, "We have been requesting for years to allow hawkers to carry out their business peacefully. Now that the Act is in place, we want the authorities to issue licenses to the hawkers at the places they operate from. There are over three lakh hawkers in the city, where will so many people and their families go? I trust the government to do things for the protection of hawkers."
In high court...
Meanwhile, the HC, which was hearing a plea filed by city hawkers, restricted hawking to designated zones only and banned it on foot and rail overbridges and within 150 metres of railway stations. The court also asked the state government to frame rules under the special hawking law, conduct surveys and set up town vending committees to regulate the activity.
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