All civic
markets are empty as hawkers here crowd streets
Dombivli’s hawkers say business indoors
isn’t good, prefer to use the markets for storage and relaxing
PROTESTERS on the Dombivli foot over-bridge are campaigning against
the hawkers there. While the protesters say that the hawkers can’t
be merely removed and need to be replaced, the municipal markets built
exactly for this purpose are lying vacant.
The municipal market near Madhuban theatre, in Dombivli east, has
been lying vacant ever since it was constructed.
The second one, named after Chhattrapati Shivaji Maharaj, has 184
galas (stalls) all of which are lying vacant. One can spot a few hawkers
sitting outside the two-storey market. This was constructed at a cost
of Rs 1.8 crore in the early 1990s.
Things are not any different at the Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation
Market near the railway station. The two storey market in Dombivli
east has 150 odd galas, all of which are vacant. The market is used
as a store room by hawkers vending outside. One can spot people relaxing
on the platforms inside the market.
WHY THE HAWKERS WON’T MOVE
Vaman Bagde, 43, who vends onions and potatoes
near Tilak Chowk says, “The business inside these markets is very
bad. Nobody ever comes to the market to buy goods. Moreover one has
to pay Rs 50 per day, over and above Rs 750 as monthly rent.”
Chand Shaikh, a hawker vending near Dombivli station
says, “I spent a year inside the market, but did not get enough business.
All my friends sitting on the roads did much better in terms of business.
Thus I decided to move out as well,” he says.
Kamlabai Patil, who vends vegetables on Phadke
Road, adds that hawking in public places is a lot more profitable
than sitting inside the markets. “Outside you just have to pay Rs
6 per day to the civic authority, where as inside you shell out Rs
50 per day and Rs 750 as monthly rent,” she says.
Commissioner of Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation
R D Shinde, he said, “I know that we need to come down aggressively
on the hawkers vending in no hawking zones. I have already instructed
my staff to do the same.”
Publication:Mumbai Mirror; Date:Nov
15, 2005; Section:City; Page Number:10
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