The High Court made it clear that the common man cannot be made to wait indefinitely and endure this unbearable situation to solve the problem of illegal hawkers. Also, the state government and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) cannot point fingers at each other and shirk responsibility when this problem is becoming alarming day by day.
After making a law, not seriously implementing it is worse than no law at all. In fact, a bench of Justice Mahesh Sonak and Justice Kamal Khata also observed that such inaction was in contempt of law. Despite repeated orders issued by the Supreme Court and High Court to the State Government and Municipal Corporation from time to time, the same is not implemented.
The court also expressed concern that despite rules, laws and orders, the concerned authorities are not serious about implementation. The problem is exacerbated by the lack of local monitoring or surveys to differentiate between licensed and unlicensed hawkers.
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Citizens who complain in this case are attacked. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the police to protect against such attacks. Therefore, in the 18-page order, the court has mainly mentioned that the responsibility of curbing illegal hawkers is not only that of the municipal corporation but also of the police. On the other hand, the municipality stated in the affidavit that there were around 10,360 licensed hawkers in 2014 and around 22,027 in October 2023.
But, unlicensed hawkers are many times more than licensed ones. The municipality has also claimed in the affidavit that it has taken action against 1 lakh 77 thousand 204 unauthorised hawkers and collected a huge penalty amount. However, illegal and licensed hawkers do not comply with the license conditions.
They are used to paying fines. No concern for law and order. The court clarified that the statistics show that the problem of unauthorised hawkers is alarming.
Citizens have become bored or tolerant
The hawkers or sidewalk vendors have literally taken over the streets and lanes. In addition, due to problems like monsoons and sewage, pedestrians get more tired while commuting. The court pointed out that either the citizens have become tolerant or the citizens may be fed up as the problem is not resolved despite complaining to the municipal authorities.
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