Speak up Mumbai: Reasonable expectation or passing the buck?

After evicting over 20,000 hawkers from across the city over the past month, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is now looking for support from citizens in ensuring that hawkers do not return to encroach the areas where eviction drives have been carried out — one of the reasons it has failed to curb the issue time and again.

On November 5, members of a residents group called Friends of Dadar assembled near Shivaji Park and took a pledge to not buy the wares sold by hawkers anywhere in the city in a bid to discourage the illegal businesses which have repeatedly proven to be an impediment to the free movement of pedestrians.

Civic officials in charge of the removal of encroachments have called it a welcome move and said that the participation of citizens is critical to rid public spaces of hawkers.

While the BMC has been urging participation from citizens, DNA spoke to residents from across the city to find out whether they think their complaints about encroachments by hawkers have been taken seriously by the civic body.

EXPERT SPEAK

Participation of citizens is crucial as there is a need to involve all stakeholders to solve the issue. It may not be possible to stop everyone from buying wares from hawkers so it is important that hawking zones are created and thereafter regulated by MCGM and the police. Other structures that obstruct movement on footpaths such as milk booths should be removed too.
—Indrani Malkani, managing trustee, V Citizens Action Network

The authorities do not take the kind of action they should be taking against hawkers. Whenever we complain, they take some action but the hawkers soon return. Mostly action against those with political patronage is not taken. If we complain too many times, they move out for some time but come back again later. The action taken by authorities is not up to the mark.
—Anandini Thakoor, civic activist

VOICES

Constant follow-ups with the BMC ward office are necessary to make public spaces free of encroachments. Just by writing a complaint letter or visiting the office once does not ensure immediate action. The civic officials need to be reminded repeatedly in order to ensure they have taken the necessary action.
—Mehjabeen Barwani, Juhu

BMC takes no cognizance of citizens' complaints regarding hawkers. All the major roads near stations are occupied by hawkers, leaving no space for pedestrians. Barring designated hawking zones, hawkers should not be allowed in busy places. The corporation should take serious action against flouting the rules.
—Sanjay Patil, Borivli

We complained about the issue of hawkers in our area about four months ago but the BMC ward office has not taken any action against a single hawker yet. In fact, more hawkers have joined in and started their business. We met the local corporator regarding the issue as well but the authority has failed to take serious action so far. BMC should probably increase the target of the collection of fines from illegal hawkers so that the ward officials take more action.
—Dhaval Shah, Andheri

The BMC does take action against hawkers but only after repeated complaints and follow-ups. Besides, even if action is taken, the hawkers put up their stalls again the very next day. Why can't the police or BMC have a system for patrolling in the days following an eviction drive if they are really serious about our complaints? The fact is that hawkers wouldn't be able to run their businesses without the blessings from the police and BMC.
—Nitin Nikam, Chembur

If people stop buying from hawkers, they will disappear. However, when hawkers are gone, shops encroach on footpaths. There has to be an easier process for lodging complaints as visiting the office every time is not possible. They should probably develop an app. Besides, people think that BMC won't act and fear a backlash from those against whom the complaint is made in case the complainant's identity is leaked.
—Gaurav Worlikar, Worli

Residents of Linking Road in Bandra and Khar have been complaining for years about the illegal hawkers menace in their areas. Despite this, the illegal hawkers are not evicted, they continue with their businesses and have created a mess for both pedestrians and motorists. Even though the BMC may have been successful in evicting hawkers from outside railway stations in the city, the civic body has not managed to evict illegal hawkers from these areas.
—Sushmita Singh, Bandra

Can the BMC and other government agencies do anything apart from putting the onus on the common man? Being taxpayers, the least we can expect is knowing that the civic body is taking the initial steps to curb the menace. Thousands of complaints simply languish on their tables and no action is taken unless a major tragedy strikes. Citizens are ready to cooperate and support the civic body's initiatives but the measures should be implemented without glitches.
—Neeta Patel, Vikhroli

One may complain to the civic body umpteen number of times but the issue always goes back to square one. The ironic part is that the hawkers are tipped off by the BMC office itself that they will be visiting with their van for an eviction drive so they are alerted beforehand. This is the most rotten form of corruption. Howsoever one complains, corruption is rampant. It's really sad that eventually we, the taxpayers, have to suffer.
—Krishna Gupta, Goregaon