Two days after the chief minister read the riot act to municipal administrations and the police for a host of shortfalls, including encroachments on footpaths, the NKDA and the Bidhannagar Commissionerate got into the act in New Town on Wednesday afternoon. Illegal stalls on the lane next to Nazrul Tirtha were removed and action planned in a few other areas.
On Tuesday, the police issued the hawkers a deadline to clear out their stalls in the vicinity of Nazrul Tirtha by Wednesday midday. But none paid heed.
Mission eviction
On Wednesday, around 12.30pm, a cavalcade of vehicles bearing the police and NKDA officials reached the lane. A crowd of about 200 people gathered in no time and started protesting. NKDA CEO Prasanta Barui asked them why 11 stall-keepers on the road had refused to shift. “The government has spent Rs 250 crore on building markets to rehabilitate them. Forty-seven of you moved out. But 11 of you refused. I have offered you ready stalls in our market not once but thrice. Still you did not move. I am ready to hand your allocation letter but you cannot stand in our way now,” he said.
Many of the protesters turned out to be hawkers from the parallel lane adjacent to Animikha Abasan which has a much bigger cluster of encroachments, while some came even from Biswa Bangla Gate where stalls were cleared out the evening before. “Those who have shifted to the NKDA market are earning not even Rs 100 a day. A shift will impact our earnings. No one will go so far for tea,” they argued.
Strategic moves
As the mood turned militant, around 12.45pm, the police swooped down on the most vocal of them and drove him away, leading to a panic that “police had kidnapped” one of their senior figures. Some pointed to the officer who had issued the order and urged retaliation. New Town police station inspector-in-charge Kallol Ghosh then used a loudhailer and asked the crowd not to take the law in their own hands and warned of consequences. “You have been promised rehabilitation. We do not want to damage your goods. If you still resist government work, be prepared for consequences. You will get no help from us,” he said, and then waded into the crowd and faced one of the hawkers who was inciting the crowd with provocative comments. Addressing him by name, Ghosh asked him to approach the court if he still had grievances. That dramatically changed his demeanour and he was suddenly standing with folded hands.
New Town police station IC Kallok Ghosh reasons with a hawker
As Barui asked the 11 allottees to meet him, promising them stalls rightaway, the police quickly started clearing the road, which had long been cordoned off for private vehicles. “Everyone other than the 11 hawkers on this lane clear out,” they barked, asking each straggler for his identity.
First strike
At 1.10pm, the CEO asked the team to start work. The first stall the team headed for belonged to Anil Mandal, a resident of Ramkrishna Palli. “Give us three days. We will move out,” his son reasoned, as his father started making calls. “We had given you three chances to move. And don’t waste time by trying to gather more people,” he warned. The son then asked for three hours to seek help to move the furniture. Barui offered him free transport to ferry his goods. “Start moving things,” he said, and ordered his uniformed workforce to pack things in the tea stall.
Suddenly a JCB machine was trundling into the lane, which deflated the hawkers further. “NKDA-r jai holo,” Mondal’s son shied, getting off his bike to help his parents move things.
Next to Mondal’s stall, Sampa Sarkar sat listless as her table got moved. “We sell green coconuts. We are here for 15-16 years,” said the resident of Thakdari whose son has just passed Higher Secondary examination from a Salt Lake school.
Some of the hawkers named an individual, describing him to be a hawker union post-bearer, who had taken money from them with promises of getting them “hawking cards”. “What can the NKDA do about that?” Barui exclaimed when the information reached him. “It is obvious that some vested interests are involved. That is why there is so much resistance. Era dokan na niye mastani korchhe.”
Captive market
Employees of DLF Techpark 1 had gathered inside their boundary watching the spectacle. When The Telegraph Salt Lake pointed out to some of them that they were the market that the shanty stalls catered to, they said many of the 10-11 companies housed there did not have canteens. “Nor is the tea or coffee sold in office affordable. The vending machines we have charge Rs 20. In these stalls, an earthen cup cost Rs 6 and tasted much better too,” one of them said. “Nor do we have options for snacks like noodles.” Asked why they were not going to the NKDA food park where 47 hawkers had already been shifted, they said it was close to 10 minutes away on foot and hence inconvenient.
If the DLF employees are unhappy, the residents of Rail Vihar have mixed feelings. “It was getting difficult to drive out of our complex as the vehicles of customers of these stalls blocked part of the road. The area also had a slum-like look,” said Pijush Ranjan Ghosh. But the flip side, he pointed out, was the convenience of getting fruits, vegetables and clothes ironed at the doorstep. “But then we are used to walking to the NKDA Market to buy fish as the fishmongers who used to sit behind Greenwood Park got relocated there. We will have to make the trip for other daily necessities too.”
Wait for more action
The residents of Animikha Abasan on the street parallel to it are waiting for the eviction drive to reach their doorstep. They faced a trying time making space for two alternative entry and exit gates now that subway escalator work has blocked their main gate. The Telegraph Salt Lake had written how it takes expert drivers to navigate the narrow exit passage between two stalls, who had been requested to make some space. “Sometimes motorbikes of their customers guard our gates who quarrel with our gatekeepers when asked to move,” said Debashis Basu, the vice-president of Animikha Apartment Owners’ Association.
Added Subodh Biswas, the association president: “We hope there is no let-up in the NKDA’s drive. Our west-facing apartments are subject to the smoke from the coal-fired ovens. Also we have written time and again to the NKDA to ensure that these shops shut by 10pm but to no avail. They are open till 2.30am and create a din.”
Officialspeak
The NKDA CEO said a meeting would take place to take stock and decide on the next course of action. “We created the market in AD Block, next to the deputy commissioner of police’s office, with 166 stalls for hawker rehabilitation. From this lane, 47 hawkers had moved out a year ago. These 11 stalls were given multiple warnings. Even then, we are sympathetic to them and ensured no goods were damaged today.”
The lane adjacent to Animikha Abasan has 61 stalls. “We will collect their identity proof. They will be given stalls on a priority basis when we build the next market. Even if hawking is allowed temporarily, it will be for fixed hours and on moveable vehicles,” Barui said.
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