BMC

hawkers

no-hawking zones

Deputy Municipal Commissioner Nidhi Chaudhari

public domain

hawking zones

Some of the proposed hawking zones:

List of spots to be up on website next week.Thehas proposed increasing the number ofin Mumbai from 22,097 to 89,797 and notifying 2,178 areas asThe list of these proposed hawking pitches with their locations will be uploaded on the BMC’s web site by next week for citizens to submit objections and suggestions. The list of no-hawking zones will also be available on the web site.A hawking pitch allows only one hawker and therefore the number of pitches is indicative of the number of hawkers in the city.The final call on the number of hawkers in the city, their precise locations and which areas must remain free of hawkers will be taken by the Town Vending Committee (TVC), which is likely to be constituted by mid-January and will have hawkers’ representatives on it.said the number of hawkers has been decided after a detailed survey. “Now that the TVC is likely to be in place soon, we are putting the survey in. Citizens can submit their suggestions and objections within 15 days,” she said.The survey Chaudhari is referring to was carried out in 2015 after the implementation of the Street Vendors Act. The Act had stipulated allowing hawkers up to 2.5 per cent of a city’s population. Therefore, with the exponential increase in the city’s population, the earlier 22,097 pitches identified by a SC-appointed committee are turning out to be inadequate.BMC has earmarked 1049, with the one in Andheri accommodating the largest number of hawkers at 8529, followed by Colaba-Churchgate with 6961 hawkers.The civic body received 99,435 applications for hawking pitches, 9,638 over the city’s capacity. But civic officials are not worried because they believe that many will not meet the criteria set to bag a hawker’s licence.“The no-hawking zones will be largely around railway stations, schools and hospitals as per Supreme Court guidelines,” said an official. Bhandup will have the largest number of no-hawking zones at 245, followed by Kandivali’s 175.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------• Vidhan Bhavan Marg east side footpath• NCPA Road, east side Bhulabhai Desai Road (from Amar Sons to Sophia College)• NM Joshi Marg (near Currey road bridge to Hararwala building)• Turner Road, Bandra (Naupada junction to Parsi agiary)• Part of Veera Desai Road