Traders want KMC to get rid of encroachers

Kolkata: The Joint Traders Federation (JTF), an umbrella organisation of around 16 markets in New Market and its adjacent areas, sought the intervention of mayor Sovan Chatterjee on Tuesday on the encroachment of hawkers and illegal parking at the entry points of the markets that resulted in loss of business for traders.

“Road space has shrunk drastically in the entire New Market area. The hawkers have encroached everywhere. The parking space has also gone to the hawkers,” Rajeev Singh, the secretary of JTF said.

Mr Singh claimed that chief minister Mamata Banerjee had announced in March 2015 that all entry and exit points leading to New Market should be free from encroachment. She had also stated that hawkers will sit only on footpath and will not sit on the road. The Kolkata Municipal Corporation has issued a notification in this regard following the chief minister’s announcement. “The notification is being flouted and hawkers are now everywhere on the roads,” a JTF member said.

We urged the mayor to implement the notification that the municipal commissioner had issued two years ago. “The mayor has assured that he will solve our concern. He also told us he will visit the area along with KMC officials and Kolkata Police on April 18 or 19,” Mr Singh said.

A JTF member alleged that though police conducted regular raids in the area and sometimes seized wares from those who flouted rules, some hawkers in specific places are often spared. through an understanding with the law enforcers.