The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) is demarcating two-thirds width of the southern footpath along Rashbehari Avenue, between Lake Market and the SP Mukherjee Road crossing, to keep it free of hawkers.
The demarcation line is being drawn as part of a project to improve the condition of the footpath.
The stalls that were on the pavement have been removed temporarily to allow the KMC to develop the footpath.
“The primary aim of the project is to improve the condition of the southern footpath between Lake Market and the Rashbehari Avenue-SP Mukherjee Road intersection. Since the pavement has been cleared to facilitate the work, we are using the opportunity to demarcate the space, by drawing a line, beyond which hawkers should not set up stalls,” said a KMC official.
The street vending rules prepared by the state government say hawkers can only occupy up to a third of the width of a pavement. The remaining two-thirds have to be kept free for pedestrians.
The stretch of the pavement that is being developed had hawkers occupying half the width — or even more — of the pavement, said residents of the area.
Manisha Bose, councillor of Ward 87 of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, told The Telegraph that the pavement is broken and undulated. “Since the pavement is being newly done, it was decided to demarcate the two-thirds width that should be free for pedestrians,” she said.