‘Curb hawker menace at Bandra fair’

Bandra residents are up in arms against the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for not curbing the hawker menace during the eight-day Bandra fair at the Mount Mary Church. The fair will start on September 12 this year.

The residents have moved Bombay high court seeking directives to the BMC to take action against the illegal hawkers.

Hearing the petition filed by about 250 residents, a division bench of chief justice Mohit Shah and justice SC Dharmadhikari on Tuesday directed Geeta Joglekar, counsel for the corporation, to file a reply by September 1.

Representing the petitioners, advocate Pooja Thorat argued that as per the committee set up by the Supreme Court to decide on hawking and non-hawking zones, the entire area surrounding the Mount Mary church is a non-hawking zone.

As per a resolution issued by the BMC, only 165 hawkers are allowed in four lanes for the eight days of the fair. However, more than 500 hawkers encroach 12 lanes for 10 days and the corporation does not take any action against them, argued Thorat.
Joglekar, on the other hand, claimed that the corporation carried out regular checks during the fair and action was taken against illegal hawkers.

The petition also wants to court to direct the traffic department to ensure proper flow of traffic. “The already narrow lanes become inaccessible during the fair for ambulances and school buses,” the petition said.

The petition suggests that the legal hawkers be allowed to set up their stalls at a playground right next to the church. Hearing the submissions, justice Dharmadhikari remarked: “Then we will have another PIL like the one for Shivaji park playground.”