A bridge too far

Locals complain

In spite of repeated complaints from the locals, the civic body has failed to take any action to evict the vendors — about 60 in number — from either side of the pul. Due to the hawker raj in the area, the name of the ‘do number pul’ has changed to ‘the bridge dedicated to hawkers’. The market is open from six in the morning till two in the afternoon. The second phase of the market starts from five in the evening and continues till nine. This is the only market in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation area, which is held on a regular basis on a bridge.

Traffic problems

Surrounded by schools and several education institutes, the area bustles with activity. But traffic comes to a halt in the morning because of the market.

If a person desires to travel to the Pottery Road area or Durga Math (situated on the other side of the bridge) from Anadapalit, he has to shell out Rs 10 to the rickshawpullers. The normal fare of the route is Rs 7.

“The extra money is charged only during the market hours, as we have to take a longer route. It is not possible to cross do number pul when the market is in full swing,” said Ehsaan Ali, a 45-year-old rickshaw puller who lives in the neighboring Motijheel slum area.

KMC sleeps

Though there are several market inspectors in the KMC, none of them have bothered to look into the matter so far. The bazaar has existed on the bridge for more than the last 20 years. Vendors arrive in this market from far-flung areas like Canning, Sonarpur and other interior areas of South 24 Parganas. None of the vendors have a licence.

Though the civic body has organised several eviction drives against hawkers and vendors across the city but has turned a blind eye to the illegal existence of this bazaar.

“The vendors are sheltered by the local CPM party. And this has been going on for quite some time. The waste products resulting from the vendors are not even dumped in a proper way,” said Tyag Ali, a local resident.

But the CPM councillor of ward number 56, Joysree Nandy, has a different story to tell. “No collection is made from the vendors by my party. The bridge is railway property. So we have not been able to take any steps to evict the vendors from the bridge. But the railways plan to renovate the bridge soon. The KMC will drive away the hawkers from the bridge during the renovation work.”

Mayor defends