A niece goes missing, a mother falls: This shopping stretch in Pune is a nightmare for some shoppers

“I frequent this place for reasonable and trendy shopping but it takes a lot of time. It’s a busy road and vendors have narrowed the main road. It’s extremely difficult to commute to and from this place. My worst experience here was once when there was no place to walk because of hawkers on the pavements and it was so crowded that my niece, who is six years old, went missing for a while,” says Srushti Dave, a Mundhwa resident.

Moving trollies and wardrobes amid traffic causes inconvenience to pedestrians and commuters on MG road. (Express Photo by Arul Horizon)

Says Nayanika Das, who hails from Kolkata and was here on a visit, “It was my first day on MG Road and I had come here to shop with my mom. There was no space to walk and my mom fell in between multiple vendors’ displays. Only the young and fit can manage this stretch during peak hours. It’s not for old people.”

Office-bearers of the Pune Camp Merchants Association say they have written to authorities at Pune Cantonment Board (PCB) to end the hawker menace as it affected their business. “This is a no-hawking zone and yet there are so many unauthorised hawkers along the pavement. The association had written to the board authorities in November last year,” said a representative.

When contacted, Subrat Pal, CEO of PCB, said that locations in the area, such as Main Street and East Street, are surrounded by areas under the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and “hence, there is a steady influx of hawkers”. “Even if we take decisive action and levy fines from unauthorised hawkers, this group is replaced by another one that occupies the space. Not only have the number of hawkers increased but this has also put pressure on the administration,” Pal said.

The PCB even has a nuisance detection squad with permanent staffers and contractual staff but that has not been enough to take action at some locations. This, despite the PCB allowing administrative flexibility and legal sanction for the squad to work beyond official hours – during peak shopping hours between 6 pm and 10 pm.

According to a PCB official, the squad works with local police stations during anti-encroachment drives, and have confiscated goods from hawkers. “Our godown is almost full with not enough space to store the seized material. The goods are given back after levying fines but the menace continues,” the official said.

Meanwhile, the chaos on the streets continues, day after day.

Both sides of the roads here are packed with local vendors and their displays of jewellery, shoes and accessories. Then there are showrooms, food outlets and cafes and carts, and private vehicles parked on the road to add to the mess. The road is a ley link to the Army Cantonment area and used by public buses and private vehicles. “My wife and I try to shop early and leave before the congestion starts around 6.30 pm,” says Shubham Srikant, a resident of Koregaon Park.

The hawkers say their story needs to be heard, too.

“I have been selling kurtis here for seven years now and there is always a fear of being caught by PCB or the police. This is a popular place for shoppers. People come to the main MG Road to eat and visit brand outlets, which gives us more sales opportunities. My earnings take care of my family who are in Sangli. There have been attempts to get us to shift to what is called Fashion Street. But shifting from here will ruin me financially,” says Swapnil Gokhale, one of the hawkers who have made MG Road their home away from home.

Shoppers say the Aurora Tower stretch is the worst affected with traffic pouring from all sides and an excessive number of hawkers on the footpath. “It also has multiple eateries which attract lots of vehicles, and two-wheeler parking takes up half of the road,” says Prashant Kachare, a resident of the Camp area who was seen struggling to find parking for his car.