Used to shopping for footwear, belts or clothes at one of Mumbai's favourite shopping spots, Linking Road, in Khar-Bandra? You might have to change your shopping habits somewhat. If the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has its way, this stretch of road, which also finds a place on the international list of popular shopping hotspots, may soon become hawker-free.
Used to shopping for footwear, belts or clothes at one of Mumbai's favourite shopping spots, Linking Road, in Khar-Bandra? You might have to change your shopping habits somewhat. If the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has its way, this stretch of road, which also finds a place on the international list of popular shopping hotspots, may soon become hawker-free.
The BMC is planning to make this stretch a non-hawking zone. The BMC's idea, which has left both citizens and hawkers fuming, is part of an overall plan to get hawkers off the city's main roads. As per the plan, the rows of shops on Linking Road would be relocated into various bylanes in the same vicinity to clear traffic congestion.
There are two reasons why residents object to this proposal. First, the area would lose its sheen as Linking Road would soon be off the international map. Worse, residents feel that hawkers would clutter up the inner roads, which are narrower and are therefore prone to traffic congestion during peak hours.
Traffic police already face problems during weekends and festivals, when the area witnesses at least 25,000 visitors.
A senior official from H-West ward defended the plan, saying, "We have planned hawking and non-hawking zones keeping in mind several issues. Shoppers just have to walk a few extra yards into the inner lanes and do their shopping. We do know that more vehicles going into the inner roads during peak hours would create a problem for residents. But we have consulted local police, traffic police and civic officials before making the plan."
Local residents are unable to stomach this explanation. "VP Road, popularly known as Linking Road, is wider than the inner roads marked as hawking zones. Many of these bylanes are already burdened with hawkers. Getting extra hawkers here would make our lives a mess," said Aftab Siddique, a civic activist and member of the ward-level committee formed to regularise these hawkers.
Siddique said the BMC should not clear Linking Road of hawkers altogether, but should only remove some hawkers, such as two and three-tier stalls which create traffic bottlenecks. "It would be a win-win situation. Everyone would be accommodated. We cannot have a 'Not in my backyard' approach to such a sensitive issue which affects the livelihoods of many. I think the problem is that civic officials will have to really work hard to come up with a plan that can be successful here. But they seem to be taking a simple approach without applying their minds,"she added.
Riyaz Contractor, a stall owner, agreed that haphazard parking and excess vehicles during the weekends create a problem for the traffic department. "But this market is popular with local shoppers and international tourists. Foreigners love buying souvenirs here. If the BMC plans to shift us elsewhere we would lose our USP," said Contractor, a member of the association of footwear hawkers in the area.
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