Kolkata: New Town Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA) has issued notices to hawkers and encroachers occupying pavements across New Town, asking them to vacate the spaces within seven days. The notice mentions several unauthorised shops and temporary structures set up on govt land without permission from the competent authority.Failing to follow the direction will invite “appropriate administrative and legal action“, the notice said. The authorities have also mentioned that, according to the NKDA Act, any expenditure incurred to remove any encroachment will be recovered from the occupiers.Among other places, the notice was issued to the 18 Tola Market area on June 26. But most of the hawkers there said they were not moving out as of now. A section of hawkers said they have spoken with the local MLA and NKDA authorities on the matter. “We do not know what to do or where to go if we get evicted,” a vendor said.Hawkers occupying the roadside space at DLF 1 said they were yet to get any notice to move out, but they were trying to keep the pavement free as much as possible. “We had applied to be shifted to the rehabilitation stalls set up by NKDA, but our names were not listed,” said Sanjoy Yadav, who has been running a fast-food stall at the place since 2011.Officials said there are close to 1,500 hawkers occupying pavements and roadside spaces in New Town. “Earlier, the authorities rehabilitated about 65% of hawkers to the rehabilitation stalls in different parts of the township. A section could not be relocated, and new encroachment occurred in some places. Necessary action will be taken according to govt directives and guidelines,” an NKDA official said.In 2024, NKDA came out with a status report on hawker rehabilitation in New Town that showed the number of street vendors and hawkers in New Town stood at 2,957. Of them, NKDA has prepared 1,931 vending stalls in 14 NKDA hawkers’ markets and hawkers are being rehabilitated in phases.Officials said that about 65% of the existing street vendors were rehabilitated, and provision for rehabilitation of the remaining 35% was needed. NKDA has sought land from HIDCO to set up more hawkers’ markets in New Town.
