The survey of street vendors in five places of Calcutta that began on June 27, days after chief minister Mamata Banerjee had vented her anger at grabbing of public spaces in the city, has been completed.

There will be a second round of visits to these places to check whether those found during the first visit are actually running the stalls or others are doing it on their behalf, mayor Firhad Hakim said on Friday.

A report will be prepared and submitted to the chief minister, Hakim said.

An official of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) said about 7,500 hawkers were found during the survey in the Oberoi Grand Arcade, on the roads around New Market, and in Gariahat, Behala and Hatibagan.

“The survey has ended in all five places. We will do a second round of the survey to check whether the same people whose names were recorded in the first phase are actually running the stalls,” Hakim said.

“It could be that the owners came to run the stalls on the day of the survey to get their names recorded by the KMC. The next visit will reveal whether someone else is running the stall,” Hakim said. “We will then prepare a report and submit it to the chief minister.”

The mayor did not say when the report will be submitted.

KMC officials who conducted the survey recorded the hawkers’ names and took their pictures and also noted down the addresses of the premises closest to the stalls. The surveyors also recorded the Aadhaar numbers of the hawkers.

Metro has reported that the police action following the chief minister’s outburst and the survey ensured that hawkers removed their stalls from roads.

Humayun Place, the road in front of New Empire, used to be occupied by hawkers. But that changed after the police drive. The hawkers have since shifted to the pavement along Humayun Place.

The street vending rules prepared by the state government bar hawkers from setting up stalls on roads. They can set up stalls within one-third of the width of a pavement. The rest of the pavement has to be kept free for pedestrians.

Bertram Street was another road in the New Market area that was completely occupied by hawkers. Now, the traders have moved to the edge of the road.

A senior official of the KMC said the data collected during the survey will be
analysed.

“We will find out how many hawkers are within 50ft of crossings because there is a proposal to remove hawkers from 50ft of some intersections,” said the official.

“During the survey, we came across instances where two hawkers ran their stalls from the same space on a pavement. One of them ran the stall in the afternoon and another in the evening. A decision needs to be taken about what to do with such
hawkers.”