City Pulse

The Elphinstone Road railway station stampede has put the spotlight on the utter failure of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s Hawker Policy. Hawkers who had parked themselves on the foot over-bridge at the station are also held responsible for the tragedy.

It is not just at Elphinstone Road railway station, commuters have to battle hawkers at every step and at every station in Mumbai. In fact, the problem was identified across the city several times and action initiated each time, but never followed up to its logical conclusion.

A month before the stampede, BMC commissioner Ajoy Mehta had ordered the complete removal of hawkers from all the 24 wards of the city. But the hawkers continued to remain on Elphinstone Road, clear proof that Mehta’s orders were not acted upon.   

A 15-day drive is currently going on in G (North) ward in Dadar to decongest one of the busiest localities of the city. The reality is that Dadar station, which connects Western and Central lines and is surrounded by vegetable and flower markets, witnesses six lakh footfall every day. The state government has also stepped in and had issued a circular asking the BMC and railways to take tough action against illegal vendors.

During rush hours, hawkers who park themselves on pavements, on the foot over-bridges and in the lanes that converge on the station hamper the movement of the commuters.

Rashi Chadha, who alights on all weekdays at Dadar station on her way to her office, said it takes her 15 to 20 minutes to negotiate her way out of the station after getting off a train.

“The foot over-bridge is very narrow. It takes time to reach the exit point, which is always blocked by illegal hawkers. They are everywhere,” said Rashi.

Facing pressure from various quarters, the Western Railways took action. “Our drive against hawkers has been intensified with the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and Government Railway Police (GRP) launching a combined operation. We’ll increase patrols on foot over-bridges,” Ravinder Bhakar, chief spokesperson of Western Railway, told media on October 1.

The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena workers had forcefully evicted hawkers from outside Thane, Kalyan, Dombivali and Andheri on October 21, 2017 after the Elphinstone Road railway station tragedy.

Commuters dismiss such drives as eyewash. “BMC and railway authorities carry out drives to evict hawkers but the hawkers are back at their reserved spots within few days,” said Talreja.

T N Dubey, a former member of the Divisional Railway Users Consultative Committee of Western Railway, said that he has repeatedly taken up the danger of hawkers obstructing the paths with civic officials but in vain.

“The railway authorities and the hawkers have a tacit understanding. Action should be taken against officials who fail to act. The blame game played by railways and the BMC is a sham and does not help anyone,” he added.

Transport expert AV Shenoy points to the 1998 Supreme Court order which asked civic officials to demarcate hawker-free zones. “We need hawker-free zones outside every railway station. The railways have now decided to demarcate such areas but it should be ensured that no-hawker zones are regularly patrolled.”

The BMC had in fact started a process to regulate vendors hawking goods on the streets of Mumbai in 2014 by announcing that they would only allow license holding hawkers to setup stalls, and that too only in designated areas.  But nothing much changed on the ground.

Rajendra Sharma, who sells vegetables outside the Dadar station, said he filled and submitted the civic body’s hawker licensing form two years ago but he is yet to get his license.

Sharma has no intention to shift his stall to a place away from Dadar station. “I have customers because my stall is close to the station. I don’t think we are blocking the streets. In fact, I’m doing a service. It is because of us, people get to buy essentials while returning home from work.”

The Central Railways audit report and initial investigation after the stampede at Elphinstone station has revealed that the accident was caused due to panic and narrow FOB. So we can't say hawkers were the only reason.

On its part, the BMC in March this year sent a proposal to the state government to constitute a Town Vending Committee (TVC) to outline a framework of a hawker policy after conducting crucial surveys.

Photo Courtesy: Hindustan Times