Mulund residents say encroachments are choking roads and leading to threats; the BMC removed more than 50 hawkers from the Mulund market area and nearby arterial roads
BMC officials clearing hawkers from Mulund market after repeated resident complaints. Pics/By Special Arrangement
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s T ward launched a crackdown on hawkers encroaching footpaths and roads in Mulund on Wednesday, a day after clashes broke out between residents and hawkers over illegal occupation of public spaces.
The BMC removed more than 50 hawkers from the Mulund market area and nearby arterial roads. On Tuesday, two separate altercations took place between locals and hawkers over encroachments on RRT Road, Ganesh Gawde Road and Walji Raja Road. Residents alleged they were verbally abused and threatened when they objected, prompting two police complaints from citizens who say they have been raising the issue for over two years.
Nirmal Thakkar, a Mulund resident and member of the citizens’ group Jagrut Mulundkar, and one of the complainants, said, “After the two incidents on Tuesday, we also approached the DCP, who assured us that action will be taken against hawkers who are threatening residents.”
Residents say hawkers have increasingly taken over footpaths and road corners, creating severe congestion. In a letter to the BMC earlier this year, resident Sharad Sejpal wrote, “For years hawkers have been selling on the roadside, but in recent months they have taken things to the extreme. They have encroached on sidewalks and set up bases at every junction. Pregnant women, the elderly, schoolchildren and all Mulundkars are struggling to walk and drive. Traffic problems are increasing. Is this acceptable?”
Residents have repeatedly demanded that hawkers be removed from junctions and high-footfall areas. In his letter, Sejpal urged the civic body, “These hawkers should be removed from all road corners in Mulund as soon as possible. These junctions must be cleared, and hawkers shifted some distance away so that residents can get permanent relief from this problem.”
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