MUMBAI, September 18: An improved interaction between citizens and the civic administration was suggested as the best way to solve the hawkers menace in the city at a meeting on pedestrians rights on Friday. Addressing a meeting on `Pavements should be for pedestrians' with special reference to hawking and non-hawking zones at the general body meeting of the Nariman Point Churchgate Citizens' Association (NPCCA) this evening, Additional Municipal Commissioner V R Ramani urged a `two-way traffic' and admitted that the city planning did not take into account provision for a hawkers plaza compounding the encroachment problem.He however pointed out that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) plans to increase the number of trucks at work in each of the 23 wards. To augment its current fleet of 35 trucks, BMC plans to hire private trucks and deploy about 10 in every ward. The BMC's plan to implement hawking zones have been delayed due to a petition filed by the hawkers in the high court.The nexthearing will take place on September 25. Ramani said the BMC is using the TISS figure of 1.3 lakh hawkers as its base but has made allotments for about 40,000 hawkers in the hawking zones. The members of the association decided that they would adopt the road from Churchgate station to J Tata road and maintain it.
