Bengal govt suspends hawker eviction drive for a month

Kolkata, June 27 (IANS) The drive to evict hawkers illegally occupying space on roads and pavements throughout West Bengal has been suspended for a month, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced on Thursday.

The drive started on Tuesday. “For a month there will be no eviction drive. I am asking the roadside hawkers to arrange their items during that period. During the interim period, the survey work by the government agencies will continue. The state government will see to it that the hawkers are provided alternate space for business. If necessary the state government will arrange warehouses for them. But under no circumstance the state government will allow businesses encroaching on public roads,” the Chief Minister said during an administrative meeting with the top bureaucrats and police officers of the state, including the district magistrates and district police superintendents.

Speaking on the occasion, she also explained why the eviction drive has started this week. “I am not against the hawkers. But what I am doing is because of the beautification of the places. I request the hawkers to cooperate with the state government in this beautification initiative. The state government will fully cooperate with you in rehabilitation,” the Chief Minister said.

In the meeting, she also issued a note of caution for the government contractors engaged in public works, especially, those related to road construction and road repairs.

“Once a new road is constructed or an existing road is repaired, they should be in intact condition for the next five years. Otherwise, the contractors concerned will be blacklisted. The illegal buildings will be taken over by the state government. Dilapidated buildings will also be taken over if not repaired in time,” the Chief Minister said.

The opposition BJP has described the eviction drive more as an act of political vengeance rather than with the motive of streamlining things or beautification. According to the Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, such eviction drives had only been in those pockets where there had been significant erosion in the ruling party’s vote bank in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, a petition was filed at the Calcutta High Court’s single-judge bench of Justice Amrita Sinha seeking the court’s intervention in the hawker eviction drive.

However, instead of accepting the petition, Justice Sinha advised the petitioner to file public interest litigation (PIL) in the matter at the division headed by Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam.