Vendors back on sidewalks, streets

Evicted vendors are back on the sidewalks and streets of the capital disrupting traffic and pedestrian movements.
The authorities’ failure to rehabilitate the vendors as promised has been blamed for the negative development.
Affected pedestrians expressed dismay over the issue of return of the vendors with backings from corrupt elements in the police as well as ruling Awami League’s local leaders in lieu payment of tolls.
They called it disturbing that the busy streets and footpaths at Gulistan, Motijheel, Shahbag and New Market had been fully overtaken by the hawkers making their eviction in January a farce.
The streets and sidewalks at Farmgate, Mirpur, Mohammadpur, Uttara, Mohakhali and the other busy areas in Dhaka North City had also been re-occupied by the vendors.
Finding the sidewalks unusable again banker Arifur Rahman said he could not understand why they were evicted in January to allow them to return.
The capital’s severe traffic jams are back with the return of the vendors on most of the busy roads and footpaths.

Vendors occupy footpath and a part of a road at Gulistan, making movements of pedestrians and vehicles difficult.— Sourav Lasker

Dhaka South City Corporation’s chief estate officer Mohammed Kamrul Islam Chowdury said that the hawkers could not be rehabilitated due to non-allocation of Tk 10 crores by the government even though ‘We requested for the fund for the evicted vendors’ rehabilitation.’
He said the rehabilitation activities would be undertaken by the DSCC as soon as the government provided the fund. 
Dhaka North City Corporation’s chief estate officer Aminul Islam said that the DNCC never took plans for the rehabilitation of the vendors out of the belief that rehabilitation was no solution to the crisis.
He said, ‘Hawkers’ rehabilitation would be an unending affair. If one group of them was rehabilitated now, another group would replace them on the roads, and sidewalks.’ 
Bangladesh Hawkers League and Bangladesh Hawkers Federation president MA Kashem, who is also DSCC hawker rehabilitation committee member, admitted that illegal toll collection was behind the vendors’ return to the sidewalks and the streets.
But he denied that he himself was involved with these illegal activities.
He said he himself had provided the names of extortionists to the police and the DSCC filed cases against the offenders but the police took no action against them.
During a series of visits, New Age found busy roads and sidewalks fully under vendors’ possession from the morning to late hours at night every day.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s assistant commissioner for Motijheel division Mazharul Islam denied the allegation of extortion and said that vendors’ eviction takes place each and every day.
He also said that the evicted vendors return almost in no time.
He, however, admitted that due to manpower shortage the DMP cannot keep the roads free round the clock.

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net