Kerala - Kochi   

Corporation to evict hawkers from footpaths

Staff Reporter

"Traffic diversion by police causing hardship"

KOCHI: Keeping footpaths reserved for pedestrian movement will be one of the priorities of the city corporation during the Onam festival season.

The civic authorities have planned to crack down on hawkers from Friday. Squads of civic officials will comb main roads and prevent setting up of temporary shops.

Hawkers used to occupy the footpaths for carrying out their business as people flowed through the streets for Onam shopping. Many anti-social elements and even pickpockets have been reportedly using the opportunity, and this prompted the civic authorities to think in terms of preventing this business, said E.M. Sunilkumar, Chairman of the Town Planning Standing Committee of the corporation. The civic authorities expect a massive inflow of small-time traders and hawkers to the city streets during the festival season. Many permanent shops also erect temporary structures on footpath during the festival season and display their goods, taking away the walking space of pedestrians, Mr. Sunilkumar said.

The pedestrians thronging the streets take away the road space allotted to the vehicles and obstruct the free flow of traffic. The civic authorities hope to check these practices by clearing the way for pedestrian flow.

Even while preventing the hawkers, the priority will not be to permit new ones occupying fresh spaces. Those who have been doing the business on the streets for quite some time will be spared, he said. Measures for marking the footpaths will also be undertaken by the civic body.

Traffic diversions

The corporation plans to write to the police authorities demanding that the views of the civic body be sought while implementing traffic diversions and regulations inside the city. Many of the decisions taken without consulting the corporation had caused much hardship to the public, Mr. Sunilkumar said.

One such decision was the move by the police to prevent the entry of vehicles to the South Railway Station through the road under the South overbridge. Severe traffic snarls are also regularly taking place at near North Overbridge owing to unscientific traffic regulations, he said.

The corporation will soon write to the police authorities highlighting these issues and demanding that it be consulted while implementing such decisions, he said. The civic body also plans to remove the unauthorised no-parking boards displayed by various shops and commercial establishments on the roads in front of them.

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