Hawkers in New Market are welcoming the proposal of the night street market but insist on the 6pm to 4am window.

The hawkers’ reaction comes after the Town Vending Committee proposed to rehabilitate the hawkers sitting on the roadsides in New Market into a night market. According to the general secretary of the Hawker Sangram Committee, Shaktiman Ghosh, accommodating the present number of street hawkers in the area is practically impossible following the dearth of availability of space on the pavements. With the night market in place, wherein street hawkers would be allowed to trade after 6pm, it will not only resolve the prolonged issue of rehabilitation and accommodation of the vendors but would also open new avenues with inclusion of cultural programmes.

The TVC has proposed to take help from other state government departments like the state tourism department for inclusion of cultural programmes. With this plan, according to the general secretary, shop owners would get additional chances of having more income as they would also be able to cater to the night market customer flow.

Several street hawkers in New Market today, welcomed the proposal. They, however, insisted on the 6pm to 4am timing. “Having something is better than losing everything. With the night market concept, our only means of livelihood can be saved although working overnight could be a challenge,” claimed a hawker selling earrings at New Market today. “The night market would need a change in our present setup. Also, for some time, the earnings might get affected as most of the home makers with young girls or even children prefer to shop during the day. However, it could be beneficial, for office goers, who would get time to shop during this window. But the main challenge would be during Durga Puja market when a huge footfall would visit the place during the evening hours,” pointed out another hawker.

As informed by a member of the TVC, more than 1,000 hawkers are to be rehabilitated to the night street market. Of around five major hawker unions, two are said to have agreed to the proposal while talks are on with the remaining on the subject. According to sources in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, the matter would be a crucial point of discussion in the MMIC meeting at the civic body’s headquarters tomorrow.