Hawkers on skywalk plan squashed

Mumbai: Bringing some relief to the already harrowed pedestrians, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation chief, Ajoy Mehta, turned down a demand made by corporators to allow hawkers to do business on skywalks. Some corporators had suggested that to prevent encroachment on roads, hawkers should be shifted on skywalks.

However, Mr Mehta said that skywalks have been built for pedestrians, not for hawkers. The corporators had proposed that skywalks should be included in the hawker's zone for the proposed national hawker's policy. Shifting hawkers on skywalks will ease traffic woes and also earn revenue for the BMC, they said.

Former Congress corporator Ajanta Yadhav had moved a notice of motion demanding inclusion of skywalks in the hawker's policy. She said, "Though skywalks have been constructed to ease traffic and prevent pedestrian's inconvenience, they mostly remain unoccupied due to which they were being used by anti-social elements. While planning hawker's zones under the national hawker's policy, skywalks should be included so that they can be given to hawkers for their business by charging a security amount. This will ensure rise in municipal revenues, ease traffic woes and also provide space for hawkers."

However, the BMC chief has turned down the proposal by saying it will not serve the purpose. In his remarks, he said, "Skywalks have been built to enable commuters and pedestrians walk freely. If hawkers are allowed to do business there, the purpose for which they were built will not be served."

According to the Maharashtra Hawkers Rules 2016, the new hawkers committee needs to be formed. The proposal of adding skywalks to the national hawker's policy will be submitted before the town vending committee, which will take the final decision. However, hawker's policy has not been finalised by the government yet, said civic officials.