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MNS chief meets Fadnavis over illegal hawking issue

The Congress and MNS workers clashed over a morcha organised by the former at Dadar in support of hawkers on Wednesday

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People walk past the line designated as a no hawking zone at Dadar after the High Court on Wednesday banned hawking within 150 metres of railway stations
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Amid his party's confrontation with the Congress over illegal hawking in the city, MNS chief Raj Thackeray met Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday.

The meeting comes after the Congress and MNS workers clashed over a morcha organised by the former at Dadar in support of hawkers on Wednesday.

After the one-and-half-hour-long meeting, MNS leaders said Raj, who was accompanied by son Amit and party functionaries Bala Nandgaonkar, Shirish Sawant and Abhijit Panse, had not discussed the hawking issue. However, an MNS leader said the two had met one-on-one after the meeting.

Nandgaonkar said they had raised the issue of redevelopment of old and dilapidated buildings which had been constructed on the collector's land in Kalyan and Dombivli, and the need for Maharashtra to have its own "start-up" policy which will create a favourable investment climate for young entrepreneurs.

An MNS leader pointed to how the Bombay High Court had said hawking would be permitted only in 221 designated hawking zones but not near schools, hospitals, religious places, railway stations and on foot overbridges (FOBs).

"For us, the issue of illegal hawking has ended. We have taken the agitation to a logical end. Lakhs of railway commuters will get relief," he added.

Activists of the MNS, which is known for its anti-migrant stance, had attacked and chased away hawkers from outside suburban railway stations after the Railway administration did not heed their party chief's "ultimatum" to evict these encroachers.

After the stampede at the Elphinstone Road Railway station on September 29 which killed 23 people, Raj, who had organised a morcha on the Western Railway headquarters at Churchgate from the Metro Cinema had given the Railways a 15-day deadline to remove hawkers at stations, foot over bridges and premises. This would make stations safer and easier to access for commuters.

TAKING A STAND

  • MNS activists had attacked and chased away hawkers from outside railway stations after the Railways did not heed their party chief’s “ultimatum” to evict these encroachers.

 

  • After the stampede at the Elphinstone Road railway station, The MNS  had given the Railways a 15-day deadline to remove hawkers at stations, FOBs and rail premises.
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