It’s high time public spaces were made hawker-free

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Given that hawkers are part of our street landscape, it is not surprising that the hawker crackdown story and penal action against a cop for inaction against illegal vendors continues to resonate. A mid-day report recently stated that the Mumbai police intensified their crackdown on illegal hawkers with support from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

It also stated that an assistant police inspector was suspended after allegedly failing to take action against illegal hawkers outside the Churchgate subway area. Hawkers inside the subway clog the area. In the event of any emergency requiring a quick exit or evacuation, panic may ensue as crowds rush to leave the space urgently. Hawkers will certainly exacerbate that situation as they constrict the space and may have to run out themselves, with or without their goods.

It is time to clear out the public space of illegal hawkers. We have seen time and again that pedestrian access and footpaths are compromised hugely because of the hawker problem. Confrontation, altercation, aggression and even physical fights have broken out against hawkers, especially near train stations. Pedestrians are hard pressed to walk, and shopkeepers are aggrieved over obstruction to entrances and shop window displays. We have seen numerous problems erupt at SoBo's Colaba causeway, too, with a mix of legal and illegal hawkers. The situation is a simmering one there.

Let us finally see hawking zones come into effect, rather than simply talk about them with legal hawkers having dedicated space and consistent drives against illegalities. As the cricket World Cup is on, we say: Hawk eye on, Mumbai.