Residents object to illegal vendors, hawker zones

H/West Federation suggested that the vendors can be moved to a municipal market with four FSI.

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The largely upper-middle class residents expressed their displeasure over the large number of unauthorised vendors.

The issue of illegal vendors and hawking zone at Linking Road was discussed at a meeting of BMC H (West) ward residents and local MP Poonam Mahajan and MLA Ashish Shelar.

The largely upper-middle class residents expressed their displeasure over the large number of unauthorised vendors setting up their shops on the already congested street. They also raised objection to the hawker zones in the area as demarcated by BMC under Street Vendors Act, 2014. “We lost our compounds due to road widening, and now the widened space is occupied by hawkers,” said a resident. Shelar empathised with the locals by claiming that he himself doesn’t agree with BMC’s Hawking Zone markings.

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“These markings need to be reworked,” he said. Meanwhile, he contended that the police force is too short on staff to deal with the problem of illegal vendors. “Earlier, we had suggested to the representatives of hawkers’ association to take care of illegal hawkers themselves, lest they want to lose their shops,” he said. Mahajan, on the other hand, noted she was the first to raise objections about Street Vendors Act, 2014 in parliament. “The act is appropriate for other cities, but not good enough for Mumbai,” she said.

H/West Federation suggested that the vendors can be moved to a municipal market with four FSI. “The vendors too would want their goods to be sold out of some fancy plaza,” said a participant. Mahajan argued, “A municipal market cannot be hurried. We want it to be of good quality. Besides, all vendors may not be able to afford a shop.” She advocated “a middle way”. Issues such as Metro phase II, coastal road and Development Plan/Development Control Regulations (DCR), were also discussed in the meeting.

mumbai.newsline@expressindia.com

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