Kalyan commuters finally have more space on skywalk

Two ward officers and an official, who heads the anti-hawkers squad in Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC), were suspended by the new commissioner as they

Two ward officers and an official, who heads the anti-hawkers squad in Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC), were suspended by the new commissioner as they failed to curb the hawker menace from Kalyan and Dombivli stations.

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The move came after KDMC commissioner Vijay Suryavanshi went on a surprise check on Wednesday night to the station areas.

Deepak Shinde, F ward officer, Dombivli, Bharat Pawar, C ward officer, Kalyan, and Ganesh Mane were suspended. Mane was heading the anti-hawkers’ squad of the civic body.

Suryavanshi went to Kalyan and Dombivli railway stations and saw that there was not enough space for pedestrians as the roads below the flyover and on the skywalk were occupied by hawkers. “As soon as I took charge, I received numerous complaints from residents and social organisations about the hawker problem. On Wednesday, I saw that the situation was the same and suspended the officials,” said Suryavanshi, who took charge as KDMC commissioner a week ago.

After the KDMC chief’s move, all officials were on their toes to ensure the roads and skywalks were free of hawkers.

Deepak Shinde, one of the suspended officers, said, “We conduct checks against hawkers only till 10pm. The hawkers return after that. We begin our day at 9.30am and continue till night. Even if we take a break for lunch, the hawkers are back at the spots.”

As per the Supreme Court order dated November 1, 2017, the civic bodies are supposed to allot space to hawkers. “We need space around the station premises so that office-goers find it easy to buy fruits or vegetables,” said Anand Pandey, a fruit seller in Dombivli.

Commuters happy

Residents, pedestrians and commuters were happy to find more space around the station. “The skywalk is crowded during peak hours. With hawkers occupying half the space, it was difficult to walk during peak hours. The skywalk was a noisy place. Today, we had enough space to walk and got some breathing space,” said Sudhish Pillai, 34, a resident of Dombivli.

A few hawkers near the station premises were seen returning on the roads on Thursday evening.

Commuters were relieved that after months of complaining, the skywalk was hawker-free. “The main aim of building the skywalk was to make commuting easy and help pedestrians avoid walking on the busy roads. But, it is an ordeal for us to walk on the skywalk every evening. Checks happen but hawkers are back occupying space later. I hope this time we do not have to face a similar situation,” said Yogita Lele, 46, resident of Kalyan