The civic body has gone into overdrive, cracking the whip on hawkers and encroachers near railway stations and on bridges, after 23 people were killed in the Elphinstone Road stampede last month. But, BMC sources say, it could be another year before the much-required hawkers' policy is implemented. It has already been delayed for three years.

Proposed in 2014, it was met with opposition from several quarters, delaying its implementation. Now, the BMC has sent a proposal to the state to form a Town Vending Committee (TVC), which will outline the framework of the hawkers' policy after conducting crucial surveys.