Plagued by the coronavirus pandemic and pounded by ‘Amphan’, the hawkers of Kolkata stare at a grim future as more than 30,000 stalls are said to have been shattered by the ravaging cyclone, last week.
Amid the ongoing nationwide lockdown, the city hawkers, have been struggling to survive during the closure.
As markets and hawkers’ establishments are shut since the past two months, the daily earners are finding it difficult to run their families.
After incurring huge losses, the state government’s decision to allow hawkers’ to partially operate following norms of Covid-19, brought new rays of hopes for the daily earners.
However, the havoc wreaked by the super cyclone, has left the hawkers with no hope or livelihood. As informed by the members of the hawkers’ union, there are around 2,70,000 hawkers in Kolkata and Salt Lake.
Of the total, around 30,000 hawkers’ establishments have been damaged during the cyclone.
Make-shift stalls have been severely damaged in New Market, Gariahat, Burrabazar, Jyotir Market, Janapriya Bazar in Haltu, Salt Lake and New Town.
Eateries have also been shattered in the city. In Salt Lake Sector V, which has around 700 food stalls, around 500 hawker’s establishments have been destroyed, according to the members of the hawker’s union in Salt Lake.
A large number of the make-shift stalls have been destroyed after uprooted tree tress fell on them, while others got blown away in the strong wind that rampaged the city for hours.
The members of the hawkers’ association are now seeking for financial assistance from the government.
The hawkers are considering plans to take the matter to the state government very soon.
“In such critical condition of immense losses we are left with nothing. How will we able to bear the repairing cost?,” asked a member of the association.
“We are struggling to manage food for our family, from where will we arrange the money to repair our stalls. We therefore, request the government to consider our critical situation and extend some help so that we are able to revive our only means of livelihood,” he added.