Mumbai: BMC may seek your views on hawking zones

Amid stiff opposition from residents’ associations, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is mulling inviting citizens’ suggestions and objections to the proposed hawking zones in Mumbai.

Amid stiff opposition from residents’ associations, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is mulling inviting citizens’ suggestions and objections to the proposed hawking zones in Mumbai.

The BMC has demarcated 70,000 hawking pitches across the 1,049 hawking zones in the 24 wards in the city to regulate hawking. It has also earmarked 2,074 no-hawking and 136 restricted hawking zones.

The main contention of the associations is that some of the hawking zones are proposed in residential areas, breaching the clauses of the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014. While the Pali Hill residents’ association has collected more than 250 objection letters, resident groups from Matunga, Hindu Colony, Dadar and Sion (East) have also objected to the hawking zones proposed in their areas.

“Various federations from F-North ward have drafted their objection letters. The process was not transparent. Citizen groups were not consulted before the demarcation of hawking zones. So several zones have been proposed in residential areas, where there are no footpaths for pedestrians and also in lanes that house hospitals and schools,” said GR Vora, F-North ward citizen federation.

“We are mulling over the idea of inviting objections from residents,” said, Pallavi Darade, additional municipal commissioner.

What has irked the residents is the civic body did not make the list public, but started demarcating the lanes. “We have not made the list public as these are just proposed hawking zones. The list is not final. It will be sent to the traffic department for scrutiny, which will then be submitted to the town-vending committee for approval,” said a civic official from the encroachment department.