TVC to determine hawking zones but citizens’ groups, politicians, still wary

Each TVC will have eight hawker representatives, besides BMC officials and representatives from the police, NGOs and citizens’ associations

MUMBAI: Excitement and hope hung in the air as hawkers from across the city gathered at the BMC headquarters on Saturday evening to hear the results of the Town Vending Committee (TVC) elections. Following a Bombay High Court order of March 23, the BMC will today declare the results of the elections that were conducted in August 2024.

TVC to determine hawking zones but citizens’ groups, politicians, still wary

With counting underway till the time of going to press, the civic body said it would announce the results of the seven divisions and one apex committee after the entire process was completed. The returning officer will then distribute certificates to the elected members. Around 200 to 250 employees of the licence department undertook the counting process with the returning officers.

“Now, we have an official platform in the BMC from where our voices will be heard, and we will be able to participate in the decision-making process,” said Swapnil Dhumal, a third-generation hawker from Malad who contested Zone 4 (between Andheri and Malad). Dhumal said that being part of the TVC would help determine the creation of hawking zones in Mumbai. “We should be allowed to vend from our current locations and not be expected to go to far-flung areas where there are no takers,” he emphasised.

The new TVC formulated for the city's seven zones is expected to determine hawking zones in the city, besides formulating rules on hawking in the city. Each of the seven TVCs will have eight hawker representatives besides BMC officials and representatives from local police stations, NGOs and citizens' associations.

The hawkers’ optimism is not shared by either elected representatives or residents’ associations. Those like Madhu Poplai from the Pali Hill Residents Association, which represents 86 buildings and 16 bungalows, are already apprehensive about the shape of things to come, and have decided to oppose hawking zones in their area.

“At Pali, despite having a proper BMC market, the vendors tend to hawk on the streets while using the market as a godown,” said Poplai. “Hawkers should not be allowed on our streets. We will be keeping a hawk's eye on them, and if they are allocated zones in our areas, we will take to the streets and oppose this tooth and nail as we did in 2002.” Poplai added that if the BMC was sincere about implementing such zones, it first needed to ensure that all illegal vendors were removed from the streets.

Nayana Kathpalia, a trustee of NAGAR, who was a member of the Zone 1 TVC, said the seven zonal TVCs put in a lot of hard work to mark hawking pitches based on the laid-down guidelines. However, there was no clarity on what would happen to the hawking pitches determined by them in the earlier TVC, and whether they would be maintained or redrawn. “But you can't simply drive hawkers away without first offering them an alternative place,” she said.

Elected representatives such as Yashwant Killedar from the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena have already demanded that the BMC reassess and verify the documentation of the 99,435 vendors who have been declared eligible to vend on the city’s streets. Killedar, who represents hawker-crowded Dadar, with an estimated 3,500 vendors hawking near Dadar Station, said that he found many outsiders in the suburb’s list of licensed hawkers, while many Dadar residents, who had been hawking for decades there, were missing from the list.

“There is a genuine need for vegetable and fruit vendors, and they should be allowed on the streets,” he said. “However, Dadar being in the heart of the city, attracts hawkers from across Mumbai, leading to the hawker situation getting out of hand.”

Ashraf Azmi, leader of the Congress in the BMC, demanded that corporators be included in the TVC. “While there are police representatives to determine the law-and-order situation, public representatives like corporators also need to be part of the policy process,” he said.