Civic officials forcefully remove hawkers from Kalyan station area

Three days after six hawkers were arrested for creating a ruckus near Dombivli railway station, Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) and Kalyan traffic police

Three days after six hawkers were arrested for creating a ruckus near Dombivli railway station, Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) and Kalyan traffic police removed hawkers occupying roads near Kalyan railway station.

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Thursday’s drive was one of the major eviction drives by the civic body in which hundreds of hawkers and vendors were removed.

In a video that has gone viral on social media, KDMC officials and police personnel were seen using force to evict hawkers.

They threw the goods on the road that were put up for sale.

“Almost all hawkers who do business from Shivaji Chowk to Mohammad Ali Chowk road and Gurudev Hotel to station road were evicted,” said Bharat Pawar, ward officer, KDMC.

The drive was conducted with 20 workers and eight policemen. The team seized four trucks of goods from the hawkers.

“The action will continue in the coming days,” added Pawar.

A similar drive was carried out on Dombivli station premises, with the help of 40 policemen and 50 civic officials.

“Suddenly, the station area looked decongested and spacious. Commuters could walk freely,” said Sujata Mahadik, 29, a commuter.

However, hawkers in Kalyan blamed the civic body for not implementing the hawkers’ policy and allocating spaces to them.

On Tuesday, six hawkers, aged between 25 and 30 years, were arrested after they got into a fight at Dombivli station area.

On Monday evening, a scuffle broke out between two groups of hawkers over occupying space on the footpath.

There was chaos in the area as hawkers created a ruckus near Madhuban-Pooja theatre.

“The scuffle that broke out was due to space allocation issues. The civic body should implement hawkers’ policy and allot space. We have the right to do business. The civic body cannot forcefully evict us suddenly,” said Anwar Ansari, 30, who sells fruits at Kalyan station road.

However, civic officials said they had to remove hawkers so that the busy market road does not get congested further.

“We had to use force as some of them started opposing. Also, the station area is a busy road and we cannot delay the drive as it will lead to congestion. We had to cover 2km stretch and evict around 500 hawkers,” said Pawar.