Hawkers have taken over Mumbai streets, no place left for pedestrians: HC

Unauthorised hawkers have virtually taken over every street in the city leaving no place for pedestrians, the Bombay High Court has observed, asking why ordinary citizens should not get the treatment that only "VVIPs" seem to get. A division bench of Justices M S Sonak and Kamal Khata, in an order on June 25, said the problem has reached "alarming proportions", and the government and civic body cannot take their own "sweet time" to deal with it. A copy of the order became available on Tuesday. The high court last year took suo motu (on its own) note of the issue of illegal and unauthorised hawkers and vendors in Mumbai and initiated this petition. The court has issued several directions to the Maharashtra government and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation but their implementation continues to be a casualty, the judges said. "The hawkers and street vendors have virtually taken over the street lanes and bylanes. There is no place for people to walk on the footpaths," the HC ...