Karnataka - Mysore   

MCC to begin eviction drive of footpath vendors today

— PHOTO: M.A. SRIRAM

Soon to be gone: The eviction of hawkers such as this one will take place in identified zones in Mysore on Wednesday.

MYSORE: The Mysore City Corporation (MCC) will launch an eviction drive in the heart of the city on Wednesday, to clear the footpaths of encroachment for the benefit of pedestrians.

A decision to this effect was taken after a late night meeting on Monday, which was marked by high-drama in which a person claiming to be a trade union activist was beaten up by elected representatives when the former openly challenged MLA Tanvir Sait, of dire consequences and abused him in foul language.

The Mayor Ayub Khan told The Hindu that the MCC was genuinely interested in upholding the interest of the economically weaker sections but in Mysore it was the mafia which was controlling the hawkers’ business. He said the MCC had information that a few persons claiming to be hawkers’ representatives, were in the business of extortion and the vendors had to part with their earnings. Besides, it had become impossible for the pedestrians to walk on the footpath in the commercial centres of the city. Hence, the drive was inevitable.

To begin with, the MCC has identified a few areas as hawker free zones. This includes the K.R.Circle and its surroundings; Town Hall, from Hardinge Circle to Exhibition Grounds; 100 Feet Road or Chamaraja Double Road to Ramaswamy Circle; JLB Road; MUDA circle to Railway Station Circle; and Irwin Road leading to Suburban Bus Stand. “We will allow only the licensed HOPCOM shops and milk parlours to function, but the remaining encroachments will be cleared,” said the Mayor. Hawking and trading on footpaths is a social issue but Mysore, being an internationally renowned tourist destination, it is inevitable to implement the rule of the law at least in the heart of the city, he added. “We will not disturb the hawkers if they are operating in the residential areas, but we cannot allow the mafia to rule the footpath in the name of the poor,” said the Mayor.

“We got a glimpse of how the mafia leaders behave with elected representatives in the council hall of the MCC in the presence of police officers. So just imagine how tight their grip over the hawking business is and the fate of the commoners,” said an official of the MCC. The Mayor said there were certain misgivings among a section of the public that the economically weaker section of the society was being targeted.

“It is not so. We pleaded with the hawkers to relocate from Krishna Vilas Road, adjoining the JLB Road, to the diagonal road opposite the Institution of Engineers that leads to the office of the Deputy Commissioner. We promised all facilities, including water supply and lighting. Though it is hardly 200 metres from the Krishna Vilas Road, the hawkers refused to budge and displayed inflexibility in their approach,” said the Mayor.

On the issue of establishing a hawkers’ zone in the city, the Mayor said though the concept was ideal, it did not find favour with the vendors or hawkers themselves as they were not prepared to relocate to the outskirts. The present effort to clear the footpaths of encroachments and hawkers is the latest in a saga of such drives but unlike in the past, this effort has the support of all political parties. The meeting held on Monday night was attended by MP, C.H. Vijayashankar of the Bharatiya Janata Party, MLAs Tanvir Sait of the Congress and H.S. Shankarlinge Gowda of the BJP, councillors of the MCC from the BJP, the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular), and officials, including the Commissioner of Police.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Olympics beckon Chinese students from Mysore
Demonstration
Workshop on legal compliance for factory personnel
MCC to begin eviction drive of footpath vendors today
Water to be released from KRS any time
Melapura 3rd stage to be taken up under JNNURM
BMIC work to begin from Mysore-end on November 1, says Ashok Kheny
Cancer detection clinic

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu