Mumbai: Illegal hawkers thriving on BMC-police-goon nexus, say activists and hawker unions

Hawkers sprawl on the road, which is already narrowed due to construction work, in front of Moksh Plaza, Borivli. Pic/Anurag Ahire

Lack of will and efforts to implement the hawkers' policy and the Supreme Court's guidelines on no hawking near railway stations has meant that the menace continues to flourish. One of the prime examples is the 2-km stretch of the SV Road outside Borivli station. Here, unlicensed hawkers take up around half of the road in the evening, and that too right in front of the civic body and police. mid-day reported on the matter on Thursday.

The Apex court had directed for the formation of Town Vending Committees (TVC) to implement its guidelines on hawking. As per civic officials, the implementation of its much-touted hawkers' policy is stalled as the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation is yet to decide if corporators can be included in the TVCs.

Meanwhile, hawkers have been waiting a long time for dedicated hawking pitches or zones. In fact, Azad Hawkers' Union has written to the BMC for immediate implementation of the policy. They further demanded that NGOs and hawkers unions registered with the Apex court take the lead in the implementation.

‘Nexus delaying progress'

Hawkers unions alleged there's a nexus between the BMC, police and locals goons which run into hundreds of crores. Dayashankar Singh, founder of Azad Hawkers' Union, told mid-day. "The number of hawkers has increased across Mumbai. Roads, which did not have hawkers earlier, are now flooded with them. The number of illegal hawkers has tripled since the last survey in 2014. And it is due to the corrupt practices of the BMC in association with local police and goons who extort money from hawkers and assure them security to do their business."

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"If the civic body had implemented the hawkers' policy and distributed vending licence after the 2014 survey, they could have easily identified and evicted unauthorised hawkers. But if they do that, how will they earn such huge profits? BMC doesn't want to put a stop to it and will continue its corrupt practices," said Singh.

Hurdles so far

The Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act was passed in 2014. Subsequently, the Supreme Court passed an order for its implementation. This pushed the BMC to start implementing the hawkers' policy.

As per the policy, licensed hawkers would get designated spaces. Accordingly, the BMC conducted a survey on 1,28,443 hawkers across the city and distributed forms to them. However, only 99,435 of them applied for the licence in 2016 and only 15,361 of them were granted licence in 2019. The civic body also identified 30,832 hawkers' pitches on 404 roads in the city.

After the delay in finalisation, the policy again hit a roadblock in October 2020 when corporators passed a resolution to be a part zonal TVCS. However, as there was no such provision under the Act, the BMC sought clarity from the Urban Development Department and the matter has been pending since.

‘Awaiting BMC polls'

A senior BMC official said, "Before finalising hawkers' pitches or zones, we have to consider many factors, such as suggestions of local corporators. Apart from this, many housing societies and residential groups have objected to hawking zones shortlisted by BMC. Thus, the finalisation of zones can only be done after the BMC polls."

‘BMC has failed'

Slamming the BMC and state government for not abiding by the SC's order and for their apathy in fast-tracking the implementation of hawkers' policy, Gopal Jhaveri, founder of Mumbai March, said, "BMC has no data available on the actual number of hawkers - both legal and illegal - in its wards. Officials don't have details of what can be sold and what is restricted. There is no official demarcation of the so-called hawking zones either. The BMC has failed miserably in providing a systematic hawking zone."

"As per SC guidelines, hawkers and encroachers aren't allowed within a 150-metre radius of railway stations, but it is not followed anywhere in Mumbai. In fact, Borivli station is one of the prime examples," he added.

Fear of goons

Vinod Sheth, a member of TVC in Zone 7, said, "The condition in Borivli West station area has gone from bad to worse. Illegal hawkers have captured not just the footpath but even half the road. When we go to complain to BMC, officials ask us to file complaint. But, many are afraid as there have been instances of goons attacking complainants. The question is: why can't the BMC take action directly?"

2014
Year when hawkers' act was passed