Calcutta reclaimed on Wednesday a road that it had entirely lost to encroachers over the years.

Police took about an hour to restore Humayun Place to a thoroughfare minus the layers and layers of hawkers’ stalls that occupied it. Kolkata Police commissioner Vineet Goyal was among the first to drive through the stretch after it had been cleared.

Humayun Place is popularly known as the New Empire Gully. It runs between the southern boundary of Oberoi Grand and New Empire and Lighthouse, iconic theatres that are now no more.

A senior Kolkata Police officer promised similar drives on other roads in the New Market area that have been taken over by hawkers.

Bertram Street and Lindsay Street, both prominent roads surrounding New Market, are in a similar condition. The pavements along Lindsay Street have been taken over by hawkers. On Bertram Street, stalls occupy the road all along its length. There is no space to walk on the pavements either.

Goyal drove through a stretch of Bertram Street on Wednesday and saw first-hand the hawkers on the road. The Street Vending Rules, 2018, framed by the state government, prohibit stalls on roads.

The police commissioner remained inside his car with two other senior officers of the city police. What he saw was an unfamiliar New Market area. Some stretches devoid of hawkers and some still chock-a-block.

The police had on Tuesday cleared Chowringhee Place, which runs parallel to Humayun Place along the northern boundary of Oberoi Grand.

“In our childhood, Humayun Place was such a lovely place. Hollywood movies were screened at the two theatres along the road. New Market was the only mall in Calcutta. Walking to New Market was such a pleasant experience, unlike the struggle that it is now,” said a man in his 50s.

On Wednesday, a large team from New Market police station arrived in Humayun Place around 5.30pm. The police fanned out across the road and asked hawkers to pack up.

The hawkers did not protest. There were no arguments and no resistance. The stall owners picked up their wares, took away the tables and pulled down the sticks and rods jutting out from their stalls.

The same hawkers had refused to vacate the roads and shift their stalls to the pavement when the Kolkata Municipal Corporation had in January asked them to vacate the road citing the Street Vending Rules.

The civic body had drawn a yellow line on the pavement along Humayun Place marking one-third of the width of the pavement. The street vending rules say hawkers
can set up stalls within one-third of the width of pavements and leave the rest free for pedestrians.

Tuesday’s police drive showed that removal of encroachments of public spaces is possible only if there is a political will.

The drive in New Market was part of several such drives to evict illegal stalls across the city.

It follows chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s outburst at the police and a section of politicians whose connivance, she said, had made the city ugly.

“Officials, police, all: a group has formed. Wherever there is free land, you are helping in its encroachment. I can see (encroachments) whenever I am on the road. The police cannot see. They have blindfolded themselves,” Mamata had said during a meeting at Nabanna on Monday where ministers, heads of civic bodies, police officers and senior bureaucrats were present.

A shop owner in the New Market area said on Wednesday that hawkers first used to sit only on the pavement along Humayun Place, especially around the gate of Shreeram Arcade. Later, a few hawkers started to sit on the road about two decades back.

The numbers swelled gradually and reached the current state. “The hawkers do not allow easy access to tax-paying stores. They are rude with visitors and often thuggish if their interests are not protected,” said an elderly shop owner in the area.

Additional reporting by Monalisa Chaudhuri