The New Market area is another spot where hawkers continue to flout rules with impunity.

Not just pavements, they have occupied much of the road. The civic body drew yellow lines in the New Market area — on Humayun Place, Bertram Street and Lindsay Street — in January.

Hawkers were supposed to keep their stalls within a third of a pavement and leave the rest free for pedestrians. A tour of the area on Tuesday showed the hawkers have made mincemeat of the rule.

Many of the stalls near The Oberoi Grand still hung torn and shabby pieces of cloth and ugly tarpaulin sheets. All are inflammable.

Many stalls came up on Lindsay Street, narrowing the carriageway substantially. Around 2pm, a car had to navigate the road with difficulty and by constantly honking at people on the road.

Blue and black tarpaulin sheets, tied to bamboo poles supported by layers of bricks on the road, made for an eyesore.

On Humayun Place, there were three layers of hawkers — the first on the pavement and the other two on the road. Stalls selling everything under the sun — from momos to sunglasses — made pedestrian movement on the pavement challenging.

But still possible.

Unlike on Bertram Street, which runs along the backyard of the Calcutta Municipal Corporation headquarters.

Here, the pavements were completely taken over by hawkers.