BMC Standing Committee Directs Officials to Stop Evicting Eligible Hawkers
Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) corporators across party lines on Friday objected to the eviction of eligible hawkers across Mumbai neighbourhoods, including Dadar, Mahim, and Kandivali, amid the civic body's ongoing Pedestrian First campaign.
The matter was raised during a BMC Standing Committee discussion on a proposal to spend nearly ₹1.67 crore on issuing QR code-enabled identity cards to 99,435 eligible hawkers. Several corporators questioned the rationale behind penalising and evicting the same vendors who were being processed for official identification.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena group leader Yashwant Killedar stated that hawkers should not be evicted until permanent vending zones are allotted to them. He also alleged that enforcement was more aggressive in Dadar compared to areas like Andheri.
Mahim corporator Sheetal Gambhir urged the committee to halt civic action against long-standing vendors, stating that several hawkers in her ward had operated for nearly three decades but continued to face eviction by civic teams and the police.
The distribution of QR code-enabled identity cards followed a Bombay High Court directive dated May 6. Kandivali corporator Ajanta Yadav noted that the distribution process began on June 1, with approximately 47,000 of the roughly one lakh cards already handed out.
Leader of the House Ganesh Khankar raised concerns regarding potential duplication during enrollment, claiming some vendors set up multiple stalls under separate entries. Yadav countered that the 99,435 vendors had already undergone strict verification backed by the high court.
Following the debate, Standing Committee chairperson Prabhakar Shinde directed the administration to instruct the police and civic officials to halt evictions of eligible hawkers.
Additional Municipal Commissioner (City) Prajakta Lavangare-Verma defended the campaign, denying claims of selective enforcement and stating that evictions were carried out wherever necessary. A senior civic official added that even eligible vendors face action if they exceed allocated boundaries, highlighting that the drive targets 320 kilometres of footpaths to protect pedestrians, who make up 41% of road accident victims.
