Hawking on the Streets... a solution

1. In making Mumbai, a better place to live in, have a concerted drive in a given area. Once the area is cleared, get the local politicians, the municipal officers, the local residents, the local police and others involved in a handing over ceremony. It is now for them to maintain the place. Here Hawkers are cleared in the morning and by afternoon it is business as usual.

2. Also make it a rule that Hawking is possible only from Standard Mobile Carts. No one is permitted to lay their wares on the road or build stalls. Also hawking is permitted only on one side of the road. The other path is free for pedestrians.

3. Build Markets in areas where the population cross a benchmark. Shift the Hawkers to the Market place on a first come basis. Make rates for Hawking on the streets double that you charge for similar space in the market.

4. Issue instructions to demolish however old, whether earlier approved or not, all extensions made to buildings on the ground floor. No shop on the ground floor should be permitted to display wares beyond the plinth area.All these extensions are land grabbing by muscle power. No society member likes to get involved for threat of life.

5. Give permissions for all buildings in Mumbai to have their ground floors if approved by their society to turn commercial. This will cause more avenues for wealth generation(for the individual & state), alternatives for the unemployed, and lesser hawking on the streets. 

6. A team of designers,architects,etc to design carts of dimension similar to existing carts.Licence Hawkers alone permitted to stand besides cart.

7. No other structures permitted to sell wares.

8. This stall area is determined by calculating the earnings possible by sale of product vs. the earnings needed for the hawker to maintain a family of four. Provision should also be made to ensure the allotted member alone stands at the stall at the appointed hour for dispensing of goods. His details and photograph should be prominently displayed. No person other than the allotted should be permitted to sell the wares. This will prevent stall capturing. In allotting stalls priority should be given to a single member in a family. Only after all unemployed applicants are covered should the second member be given opportunity.

9. We need to redefine the role of the Police. I think it is a better idea  for the Police to ensure the area under their control is free of Hawkers, Encroachments and Roadside dwellers.

10. There is an increasing tendency of shops and establishments to encroach upon the Public space or pedestrian footpaths, by muscle power or otherwise. A law should be introduced that prevent any establishment or eatery from expanding beyond the original approved building plan and built up area. Permissions if granted by any authority earlier should all be cancelled. Thus all commercial establishments will have to procure additional space for expanding their activities, or give rise to opportunities for new entrants to venture into business. This will cause greater creation and better distribution of wealth. 

11. Even storage outside the shop limits should be banned. This law will create a greater demand of built space and increase the revenue collections. This law should also be made applicable on those who have expanded in their residential Society space. These expansions should be completely cleared and no permission given. 

12. Permission should be given to residents of Housing Societies to convert their apartments for any business activity, which is in the accepted lists of trade acknowledged and accepted by the society. This will create more opportunities for creation of wealth, and ensure that prices are within control through a healthy competition. Licences to be issued to all those engaged in commercial activity. 

13. Another major cause of encroachment is for slumlords to capture spots and erect places of worship. A law should be legislated that for a place of worship to be recognised as one, it is necessary that the spot be earmarked and designated as such. We find suddenly in a slum a spot which was a hutment suddenly emerging as a Temple or Masjid. This causes resentment and disturbance in the neighbourhood. The Law should treat such places as illegal and have them demolished.

14. Can we have a Law that makes it the responsibility of the local police under whose jurisdiction this street happens to ensure no one arrives from nowhere, and makes the street their home. They just need to be sent to the nearest beggar’s home. The men & women have to be skilled during their stay at the home based on their inclinations, and converted to useful members of society. Once skilled they have to be asked to return to their place of birth/origin and begin life anew. Else the City will forever be an overgrown slum, inviting more children to the dark.