Illegal hawkers on roads leave commuters, pedestrians in peril
Illegal hawkers on areas like Sinhagad Road, Satara Road, Katraj-Dehu bypass and Ahmednagar Road announce their sale on megaphones causing inconvenience to commuters and pedestrians
PUNE: Be it Sinhagad Road, Satara Road, Katraj-Dehu bypass or Ahmednagar Road, unauthorised vendors selling fruits/vegetables/other goods from roadside vehicles while making announcements on megaphones have made commuting a nightmare for drivers and pedestrians apart from disrupting the peace and tranquility of several neighbourhoods in the city.
According to officials of the anti-encroachment department of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), these hawkers do not possess any license to park their vehicles on the roads or sell their wares from there or use loudspeakers.
During anti-encroachment drives, the PMC confiscates the hawkers’ vehicles and they have to pay fines ranging from Rs10,000 for a three-wheeler to Rs15,000 for a four-wheeler to Rs20,000 for a truck or any large vehicle to get their vehicles released. Many a times, actions against hawkers even lead to violent confrontations. Recently, a staffer from the PMC anti-encroachment department was attacked by street vendors during a drive at Warje and sustained serious injuries to the extent he had to be hospitalised.
When contacted, D R Langhe, regional anti-encroachment inspector from the PMC, said, “The anti-encroachment department of the PMC is very active and strict regarding such matters. We have confiscated many of these three- and four- wheelers and tried to rein in the ruckus as far as possible. If we go by figures, we have already confiscated around 20 vehicles from different areas in the city.”
Still, hawkers are routinely found returning to the same spot after paying fines to get their vehicles released.
Anti-encroachment department officials said that in case of repeat offenders, the matter does not remain limited to illegal parking and the PMC can prosecute them further. Regardless of such a risk, hawkers without proper shop- or legal- permit/s are found setting up shop on roads of residential areas near highways, the officials said.
While there are ‘hawker’ and ‘no-hawker’ zones in various parts of the city, these illegal vendors are found increasingly populating ‘hawker’ zones as selling goods without license in ‘no-hawker’ zones can lead to immediate penalisation.
Asked about illegal street vendors making announcements on their megaphones and adding to the noise pollution, Langhe said, “This will be curbed only with collaborative action from all departments.”
Residents from many societies too have complained about the disturbance caused by these hawkers.
Ameesh Deshpande, a software engineer working in Hinjewadi, said, “This week, I was passing through the Warje stretch a large part of which has been occupied by unauthorised fruit vendors. Not only was there traffic chaos, their announcements added to the inconvenience.”
On the other hand, the vendors said they do not have the financial means or the knowledge to get licenses or set up proper shops.
A vegetable vendor in Khadki Bazar said, “Earlier, I had a stable job in Shivajinagar. I have been selling vegetables for about a year now. There are times when I get into trouble with the police and the PMC officials but I try to not let it affect me.”
A citizen on condition of anonymity said that while it is true that these hawkers are encroaching roads and causing noise pollution, it is also true that they do not have a permanent place to sell their goods. “The authorities should keep in mind these facts and come up with solutions that would benefit the people in a permanent manner,” he said.
