23 May,2017 07:31 PM IST | Mumbai | Gaurav Sarkar
A day after 150 residents of Thakur Village, Kandivli East, held a peace march to protest BMC's inaction over the hawking menace, the civic body swung into action on Monday
Illegal hawkers cleared from the area during the demolition drive in Thakur village yesterday
A day after 150 residents of Thakur Village, Kandivli East, held a peace march to protest BMC's inaction over the hawking menace, the civic body swung into action yesterday. It carried out a demolition drive that lasted five hours, and cleared the area of 150 illegal extensions.
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"The demolition drive started around 11.30 am and ended by 4 pm," said Sahebrao Gaikwad, assistant municipal commissioner, R/South. "It was primarily carried out on the 120-ft road in Thakur village, where the hawking menace is the strongest."
Around five BMC officers, along with 25 labourers and three BMC vehicles, carried out the demolition drive on the stretch.
"Around 150 hawking extensions were broken," said Gaikwad. Dismissing the claim that the drive was as a knee-jerk reaction to Sunday's protest, he said the civic body had carried out demolitions in the neighbourhood several times in the past. "Just two days ago, we had carried one out. This demolition drive wasn't a response to anything specific. We have a regular exercise that goes on every day, one day in the east and the other day in the west."
Residents of the neighbourhood, however, stood their ground on their demand for removal of all illegal hawkers from the area, as well as the formation of a legal hawking zone. "Unfortunately, as soon as the BMC staffers leave, the hawkers come back," said a resident of Thakur village.
