Hawker Sangram Committee protests at police station, alleges police ignoring Mayor’s orders on illegal encroachment

The Hawker Sangram Committee staged a protest at the New Market police station against the increasing encroachment by illegal hawkers in the New Market area and alleged police atrocities. The protest also led to the blockage of S. N. Banerjee Road for nearly half an hour. The committee claims that shopkeepers are facing difficulties due to the hawkers.

Shaktiman Ghosh, the National General Secretary of the Hawker Sangram Committee, stated that several policies had been formulated through the Town Vending Committee, but due to police interference, they have been unable to implement them. He further mentioned that because of police oppression, some hawkers are illegally occupying the blacktop area. Despite repeated warnings from the committee, these hawkers continue to ignore their instructions.

On Friday, when the committee blocked the road, the police requested them to submit their memorandum promptly so that normal traffic could resume. Following the submission of the memorandum, traffic was restored. Shaktiman Ghosh emphasized that the committee never intends to create any disturbances, but the approach of the New Market police station has been astonishing. He pointed out that the encroachment by hawkers on footpaths in the New Market area is continuously increasing, severely affecting traffic movement.

He recalled that last month, a meeting was held under the instructions of Mayor Firhad Hakim to free footpaths from encroachment. However, the New Market police station has not adhered to the decisions made in that meeting, and illegal encroachment has only escalated. Due to this, the committee was left with no choice but to launch this protest. Shaktiman Ghosh also expressed regret that their protest caused inconvenience to some students appearing for exams and apologized for it.