Hawkers in Hatibagan continued with their old habits: encroaching on roads and occupying most of the pavements.

They were still hanging worn-out pieces of cloth and tarpaulin sheets, which were not just eyesores but also flammable.

On Monday, chief minister Mamata Banerjee blasted the civic body and police for the condition of Hatibagan and Gariahat, the two shopping hubs in Calcutta where visitors are at the mercy of pavement-grabbing hawkers.

“Has anyone ever looked at Hatibagan and seen its condition?” the chief minister said.

On Tuesday, Metro saw many hawkers along Bidhan Sarani, near its intersection with Aurobindo Sarani, encroaching on the main thoroughfare.

The shade over the hawkers’ stalls on the Hatibagan pavements covered the entire space up to the adjoining buildings, leaving almost no space for sunlight to enter.

Some slices of the pavements barely had space for two people to walk alongside. In some other portions, it was even narrower, with barely enough room for one person at a time.

This newspaper saw two stalls facing each other on the pavements along Bidhan Sarani at more than one spot. Near the brick-and-mortar store of an apparel chain, two hawkers’ stalls faced each other. One sold clips, hairbands and other accessories and the other sold colourful dresses for miniature idols of gods and goddesses.

The result: the hapless pedestrian was squeezed out on the road.

Calcutta’s town vending committee — empowered to regulate hawkers and take action against errant traders — had last year allowed hawkers to build a tin shade over their stalls, but made it clear that the shade should not cover more than a third of the footpath’s width. The stalls must leave two-thirds of a pavement’s width free for pedestrians.

In Hatibagan, neither rule was followed.

Only a cosmetic change was visible. The tin shades that jutted into the road were trimmed. “A team from Shyampukur police station visited us last night. We were told to remove the portion of the shades that jutted into the road,” said a man who sold junk jewellery.

As he spoke, he held firm a plastic stool on which another man stood and cut a portion of the shade with a giant pair of scissors.