A section of residents of Jodhpur Park is protesting against increasing encroachment in the south Calcutta locality.

The main thoroughfare that connects the entry point from Gariahat Road to Jodhpur market and turns towards South City Mall, is beset with sellers of vegetables, fruits, flowers, lottery, meat, bread and the like.

On Sunday and Monday, a group of residents went around, asking the hawkers to clear out. Their protest had started a week ago when local women took pictures of the encroached spaces and confronted the hawkers. A signature campaign was done seeking their removal and the appeal was submitted to the local councillor of Kolkata Municipal Corporation and the police station. This week, they were joined by several men.

Some of the 30-odd encroachers got into heated exchanges with the residents. An officer from Lake police station reached, as did the civic ward assistant. The women complained that a green coconut seller had threatened one of them, saying: “RG Kar kore debo,” referring to the recent rape and murder at the hospital. “We will clear the area soon,” the officer assured them.

The councillor of Ward 93, Moushumi Das, told Metro that the hawkers were already in place when she was elected. “I am not in favour of indiscriminate hawking, that too by outsiders. I have ensured that they do not proliferate in number. They used to dirty the area. I asked them not to. I have also spoken to the police. They have promised a drive after the Pujas. But the residents decided to take the initiative. I have promised them help, like breaking the brickwork the hawkers have built on the pavement.”

Residents want to reclaim the pavements. “Traffic congestion was alien to us. But during the pandemic, outsiders started sitting here with wares. They found takers as people avoided entering the local bazaar to maintain social distance. But they stayed on after the pandemic, making a mockery of the wide carriageways that distinguish Jodhpur Park from adjacent Lake Gardens and Dhakuria,” said a resident, who settled here in 1985.

Though the fruit and vegetable sellers do not sit through the day, it creates congestion in the morning hours. “The sellers on the pavement attract customers who stand or buy from passing cars or rickshaws, blocking a lane. This slows down the traffic,” said another resident in her 60s.

She pointed out that with more houses being developed into apartments, the population with cars has increased as has the vehicular load on the streets, thanks also to cars that take a shortcut through Jodhpur Park to reach South City.

“Driving out of our lane is difficult because of fruit baskets stacked at the bend. Their actions are encouraging the older hawkers too. A bread-seller got a cupboard made, which forces pedestrians to get off the pavement.”

None of the residents agreed to be quoted for fear of being targeted by the hawkers.

The encroachers are unwilling to move. Bandana Sardar, a vegetable seller initially claimed to be a local resident sitting on the spot since 2000, but on being challenged by Metro, revised the date to 2020. Neither could she provide address proof. “I come from Baruipur,” she admitted. Fruit-seller Sailendra Sanpui, too, hails from Baruipur but said he rents a place in Dasnagar nearby. A few are locals like Dintaran Adhikari, who produced a hawker registration application letter stamped in 2015 with his address.

The pavements were empty on Tuesday but residents are unsure if it was due to “ranna puja” that happens on Viswakarma Puja. They are in no mood to give up. “This is the right time to protest,” said one, who was part of a rally held in Jodhpur Park seeking justice for RG Kar.