Some of the pavements in Sector V are completely taken over by hawkers, who have put up benches and erected shops occupying the whole space, leaving no room for pedestrians.
Most of the shops have been set up after removing paver blocks from the walkways and erecting bamboo poles, over which plastic sheets have been strung up.
On wooden benches and tables, customers are served food ranging from instant noodles to tandoori chicken.
Most of the pavements in all blocks of Sector V had iron guardrails installed on them to ensure pedestrians don’t jaywalk. There are gaps at regular intervals, especially near bus stops, for the benefit of pedestrians.
With the bamboo and plastic stalls taking over the walking space completely, thousands of office-goers and others risk their lives and walk on roads with vehicles zipping past them.
A senior official of the Nabadiganta Industrial Township Authority (NDITA) said that according to their estimate, there are more than 300 hawkers in Sector V. Repeated attempts to rehabilitate them into designated hawking zones and a food court in the Sector V parking lot, behind the Technopolis building, have failed.
“We have tried on multiple occasions to free the pavement but have met with stiff resistance from hawkers, some of who keep their shops open round-the-clock,” said the official.
NDITA chairman Debashis Sen refused to comment on the issue when contacted by The Telegraph.
In Sector V, unlike Kolkata, there is no town vending committee. Such committees are empowered to regulate hawkers in their respective areas.
Several hawkers told this newspaper on Thursday that pavements were up for sale in Sector V.
“We need to pay a regular fee, apart from donations during Kali Puja, to local leaders,” said Biplab Sarkar, a Mahisbathan resident who runs an eatery near RDB Boulevard.
Most hawkers admitted that there is a steady influx of new hawkers. Pavement space is allegedly being sold for anything between Rs 50,000 and Rs 1.5 lakh. Many have “rented out” stalls.
Parimal Majhi, who has been running a stall selling cigarettes and paan for a year, said he was paying a “rent” of Rs 7,000 to the hawker who had originally set up the stall five years ago.
“Now he runs six stalls, of which three have been rented out. Apart from the rent, I have to pay local leaders. We are also asked to join rallies and pay hefty donations during pujas organised by the leaders,” said Majhi.
Asked about the encroachments, Bidhannagar Trinamul Congress MLA Sujit Bose said the state government's policy was “rehabilitation of hawkers, not driving them out". A process, he said, is on to find designated hawking spaces for them.
“We are looking to relocate as many hawkers as we can, but we will not carry out any eviction drive as it will affect their livelihoods,” Bose said on Thursday.
Nearly every walkway in Sector V has been encroached on by shacks and stalls made of flammable items like bamboo, plastic sheets and plywood.
They eat into the walkways, boulevards as well sections of the carriageway. The footpaths on either side of the Webel buildings are so full of them that pedestrians are forced to walk on the carriageway.
The situation is similar near the RDB Boulevard, College More and at the RS Software intersection.