One for the road, and then some

Divya Subramaniam talks to residents from Chembur, where pedestrians have been battling for two decades to reclaim their streets from encroachers.

He has earned a few creases on the forehead from a long battle, and a bit of salt in his hair. But 56-year-old Rajkumar Sharma, a resident of 7th Cross Road in Chembur, has more grit than his tiny frame would suggest.

Along with other residents, Sharma has been spearheading the battle to keep hawkers off the narrow pavements in this congested suburb.

The benefactor of their attention has been the tree-lined Central Avenue. One of the arterial roads of the suburb, it leads from the station to Diamond Garden. And is completely free of hawkers.

“The road was first declared a  hawking zone in the late ’80s,” Sharma says. “We were shocked that in order to rid one area of hawkers, other neat neighbourhoods were being ruined.”

Sharma and some other citizens decided to protest. “We took out a protest march, which had about 200 participants,” he says. Finally, the plan to relocate 97 hawkers was dropped on the request of the BMC ward officer. However, the residents’ ire resurfaced in 2004, when a three-member committee appointed by the Supreme Court once again declared the road a hawking zone. Faced by fierce protests again, the committee said it would make a decision after examining the area.

“One day, I got a phone call from someone saying there were people examining various spots in the suburb. I rushed there to find the three-member team,” says Sharma. “There had been no intimation or notice and there was no one to explain the residents’ point of view to them. Fortunately, I happened to be around.” After examining the area, the committee again removed the road from the list due to popular request.

With his long-drawn protest, Sharma has been included on the rolls of groups like Citispace and Agni, known for their anti-encroachment activism.

And thanks to his and others’ efforts, Central Avenue has become Chembur’s own Champs-Elysées. The street has recently been relaid with concrete and the footpaths have been paved with cheerful red tiles.

While the residents may have won the BMC over to their side, they still have to deal with stray hawkers intent on disregarding rules and setting up shop on the road. Avinash Tambe, another resident, says this is the administration’s responsibility.  “We tell our children to walk on the pavements, but they have no access to them. Does it make sense?” he says. Small nuisances apart, this locality sets an important and heartening example for the rest of us.