MNS will collect citizens' objections to hawking zones

Citizens had protested against the hawking zones published in the previous BMC list in 2015. File pic

The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), which has recently seen a downfall, has decided to cash in on its favourite issue - hawkers - again. As the BMC deadline for suggestions and objections to its hawking zones list draws to a close, MNS chief Raj Thackeray has asked his leaders to collect them from citizens and submit them to the BMC.

The BMC has come up with a list of 85,891 pitches across 1,366 roads, based on the survey conducted in 2015. Though the hawking zones are almost the same as those marked earlier, which had faced serious flak from citizens, the civic authorities have called for suggestions to the list published on the BMC's website by January 31.

BMC was to review the list in the year 2015, and hasn't done so. This has angered citizens. In a meeting on Wednesday, Thackeray instructed his zonal heads to collect objections from citizens and submit them to the BMC. He seemed to have mellowed down, for it was following the Elphinstone stampede, that he had said if the government didn't remove hawkers from the city, then MNS would do the needful, in their style.

And there were several attacks on hawkers allegedly by MNS leaders. But despite Thackeray's stance, MNS workers want the hawkers issue taken up in 'MNS style' to a logical end. Sandeep Deshpande, MNS leader, said, "We ask BMC to implement changes before finalising the list."

All parties miffed
Corporators from all parties have slammed the BMC for marking hawking zones without taking them into confidence. Leaders all­eged that BMC has mar­k­ed hawking zones witho­ut enough study, which will lead to chaos. Lead­er of the House Yashvant Jadhav said, "The BMC admin is dictating things. We will not allow them to go ahead with this list."

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