Hill Road hawkers are back — here, there and everywhere

The hawkers, who used to dot Hill Road, were back in full swing on Sunday in the absence of a police van and BMC vehicle. They were seen between Globus Shopping Centre and Balaji restaurant, at the entrance of the Factory Lane.

In a major drive on January 15, the BMC and police had removed around 200 illegal hawkers who used to obstruct vehicular traffic and pedestrian movement on Hill Road.

"In the past two months, a few hawkers have come back. Now, several seem back to business.
When the police succumb to local politicians' pressure in such issues, it allows the latter to disrespect them leading to incidents like the Vidhan Bhavan assault case or the numerous attacks on civic officials by politicians," said Anil Joseph, chairperson of the Perry Road Residents Association.

Joseph added that additional commissioner of police Vishwas Nangre Patil had shown the way for police and BMC action on complaints in the region. "But it looks like Union minister Ajay Maken's visit has emboldened the hawker-slum-neta nexus," he said.

"Also, citizens are waiting to know the fate of Vasant Dhoble who was targeted by politicians for doing his job of clearing illegal hawkers."

The officials from H (West) ward blamed lack of machinery for the hawkers' return. "We have one vehicle on Sunday, which makes it difficult to manage the hawkers on Hill Road, Linking Road and others. We have sent a proposal to the superintendent of licences asking for one more vehicle," said a senior civic official.

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