The Brihnmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has mentioned Colaba Causeway in the list of 20 locations sent to the Bombay High Court (HC) for consideration in the hawker removal case.
However, the residents of the South Bombay locality claimed that only moves quickly to get rid of hawkers when the Prime Minister or other central ministers and VIPs are arriving the city.
Residents did not object to the hawkers making a living, according to Subhash Motwani, head of the Clean Heritage Colaba Residents' Association. But they ought to be moved to a hawkers' plaza where they don't obstruct our ability to use pedestrian zones and walkways, he stated.
Speaking further about the issue, Motwani asserted that the authorities themselves were the obstacle preventing action from being taken, not the hawkers. He asserted that a significant amount of money had been paid to rent these areas for hawking. Even the guidelines of the high court are being broken by them. Overnight, the BMC clears stalls on a war footing only after the arrival of the prime minister or a central government official. They are ignored when ordinary individuals request that they be removed.
Motwani clarified that several issues might be fixed at once if the hawkers were removed off the walkways. Because individuals strolling on the roadways won't be honked at, he stated that traffic will become less hectic and noise pollution will reduce. Air quality will improve, traffic congestion will decrease, and accident risk will also decrease.
The residents claimed that the BMC and the police have secretly boosted the number of hawkers in the area from 76 to 186. He declared that all of the committees that were supposed to address this were fake. Locals have witnessed police officers receiving haftas in vans that are stationed there.
The hawkers are doing roaring business, so the residents are unable to drive their own cars. The locals have suggested to the BMC that they relocate to the Museum location, which is directly across from Regal Cinema and houses the Maharashtra police headquarters.
A civic official stated that the hawkers were taken out during the PM's visit for security reasons and in accordance with police directives. Only surveyed and licensed hawkers are permitted to hawk there, he asserted. Illegal hawkers are not permitted. However, the authorities have proposed to the high court to ban hawkers from this area.
Share
Tweet
