Soon, hawkers will rule the streets

MUMBAI: What will be Mumbai like innext few years? It is very easy to know, thanks to trade union leader, Mr SharadRao. Just close your eyes and you will see hawkers occupying every vacant place,may it be a ground, foot path, road or a bridge, trying to sell anything andeverything, from pin to Piano. And people even constructing hutmentson rail routes and roads, blocking rail as well as road traffic, with poor taxpayers and law abiding citizens having no place to walk and no means to commute.But, it is OK. People having no way to walk or vehicles having noway to move, is not as important as hawkers enjoying their right to sell goods,even causing lot of inconvenience. Mr Rao has suggested to the pedestrians towalk on car roofs. This is the new ''urban justifying encroachmentstheory'' propagated by ''great philosopher'' Mr Rao. He not only justifiesencroachment on public open spaces, but even encourages it on people''s privacy.According to him, your housing society or building has no right tostop hawkers from entering the premises and sell their goods. They can knockyour door at any time to sell you goods. As a mark of protestagainst people''s opposition to Mr Rao''s ''hawkers'' free movement mission'', thehawkers are going to blacken all such boards preventing hawkers'' entry to thebuildings.Hawkers'' menace has increased speedily during last fewyears. Earlier, in the areas near railway stations in suburbs, hawkers wereoccupying part of foot-path or roadside. Then a second row ofhawkers started appearing in front of them. And now the third row has takenover. Legal shop owners are finding it difficult to do business astheir entrances are blocked by hawkers and hence nobody wants to go to theseshops. Same is the case with building entrances. Moving a car in orout of a building compound is fully at the mercy of hawkers occupying positionsin front of the building gates. Any argument with the hawkers canturn into altercations, heated exchange of words, abuses, with all nearbyhawkers joining hands against law abiding citizens. For Mr Rao it isobviously a question of mustering support of over 1.5 lakh strong mob of hawkersfor his survival. And hence he is ready to go to any extent to take their side.Hawkers'' nuisance in Mumbai is a classic case, exhibiting howignoring little illegality initially on part of authorities for some short termgains can turn into mass scale attitude of dishonouring the law. And how itbecomes impossible to control such things later. Today at manyplaces, neither civic authorities, nor police, nor citizens’ rule, but thehawkers have their say. There are some localities in Mumbai, wherelocal citizens'' groups have successfully kept hawkers out of their areas. Butthese are exceptions and no one knows with increasing ''dadagiri'' of hawkers andtheir leader, Mr Rao, how many days these groups will succeed in keeping theirareas hawkers'' free. All schemes like hawkers'' plaza etc. havefailed. The reason being leaders like Mr Rao have no interest in educating hisfollowers on such issues and telling them their responsibility. Itis clear now that due to various reasons, no authority will be able to clearthis nuisance. It is only people, who should take lead in cornering hawkers. Ifthey stop buying from hawkers, they will not be able to survive. So,the people should stop buying anything from hawkers. After all, it is because oftheir patronage that also has helped in problem going out of hand.Ifit is not controlled now, Mumbaikars may have to hear another ''fatwa'' from Mr.Rao very soon that every household has to buy goods worth of specific amountfrom hawkers everyday. From the arrogant way and what he has talked today, thatday is not far.