Overview
- The state chief minister met hawker representatives and assured there will be no eviction drives until Durga Puja, creating a temporary moratorium for sellers across the state.
- The State Municipal Affairs Department is scheduled to meet hawker leaders next week to work out identity cards, rehabilitation plans and detailed rules for pavement use.
- Reports differ on railway land: one account says the chief minister will raise the issue with Indian Railways while another records he declined to promise relief for squatters on railway property, leaving rail-owned sites unresolved.
- Officials flagged a proposed limit that would allow stalls on only one-third of a pavement’s width to keep space for pedestrians, but enforcement details and allocation methods remain to be negotiated.
- The pause eases immediate fear among lakhs of hawkers who faced eviction drives since the new administration took office and sets up a test of whether the government can balance street management with vendors’ livelihoods before October.