A day after the eviction drive in Salt Lake, the erstwhile hawkers were weighing their next options.
“We are done with politicians! We have lost everything and have learnt a harsh lesson. When they need us we are forced to attend their political meetings and rallies but when our stalls were getting razed yesterday they didn’t even receive our phone calls,” said Kamal Adhikary, secretary of Salt Lake 16 no Tank Bazaar Kalyan Samity.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee had on Monday pinpointed the footpath around the animal resources department, near the stadium, as being dotted with encroachers. The next day corporation workers and the police dismantled more than 20 stalls on the stretch. The evicted hawkers said the police had informed them about another drive on Thursday for the 30-odd remaining stalls in the area.
“Councilor Minu Das Chakraborty didn’t receive our SOS calls and this demolition order seems to have gone straight from the chief minister to the engineers who executed the order so there’s no point speaking to the mayor either. We shall probably approach the corporation engineers and demand answers,” Adhikary said.
