More hawkers, who had their stalls dismantled, are back in their old spots across Salt Lake, barring a stretch near the animal resources department (ARD) office, opposite the Salt Lake stadium.

A number of residents of the township told this newspaper that hawkers set up stalls, made of plastic sheets and bamboo poles, on pavements within days of Wednesday’s eviction drive.

On Sunday, The Telegraph spotted stalls on several pavements that had been cleared by police and the civic authorities on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Around 45 stalls, with black plastic sheets on top, have sprung up on the pavement in front of Anandalok Hospital, near the Karunamoyee bus stand.

Inside the bus stand, too, shacks and stalls selling betel leaves, cigarettes, fritters and puffed rice have returned.

The situation is no different near the tank number 4 footbridge, a busy link between Lake Town and Salt Lake.

Pavement-grabbing stalls were back along several stretches of Broadway as well as the Kestopur canal near the AL Block. Stalls have also returned near the Punjab National Bank rotary.

This newspaper reported on Sunday that stalls smashed by eviction teams on Sunday were back in business in parts of Salt Lake.

The roadside stalls across Salt Lake sell fish, meat, poultry, fruits and vegetables. A number of them use LPG cylinders or kerosene stoves to cook.

All the stalls are made of flammable materials such as plastic, bamboo and plywood.

A senior official of the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation said hawkers were taking advantage of chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s announcement last Thursday that the eviction drive would be put “on hold” for a month to allow the traders to comply with the rules.

On Wednesday, eviction teams had used bulldozers to raze many pavement-grabbing stalls in the township. The action followed the chief minister’s outburst on Monday that she was ashamed of the situation in Salt Lake.

A senior officer of the Bidhannagar commissionerate said they have not received any request to provide security for any eviction drive.

“We have not received any request from the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation to aid them in eviction,” the officer said

Bidhannagar mayor Krishna Chakraborty said: “We are carrying out a survey to make a list of hawkers. We are also working towards a rehabilitation plan and considering the possibility of setting up temporary hawker markets. We won’t allow new hawkers to set up stalls.”

The walkway near the office of the animal resources department, which was flagged by the chief minister and witnessed an eviction drive last week, is still free of encroachers.

Gopal Das, who had a shop on the stretch that sold old furniture, said they were aware that many hawkers had returned.

“We are taking it slow as the chief minister had mentioned this area. Our leaders are likely to meet civic officials soon,” Das said.