Three days before I began writing this article, a bench of Bombay High Court judges criticised the BMC for its inaction in clearing hawkers from railway station areas across Mumbai while addressing a petition. Sadly, this isn’t the first time the court has heard such a petition. A simple Google News search for “Bombay High Court hawkers” over the past 20 years brings up over 14,000 results, showing how often this issue has been raised. Recently, BEST also came under fire for removing buses from routes affected by hawker encroachments in Borivali. Clearly, the unregulated presence of hawkers is widely seen as a problem in Mumbai.
As a host for guided walks under the Walking Project pedestrian advocacy initiative, I often encounter questions about the legality of hawking, how to accommodate hawkers and how we can prevent them from occupying the wide footpaths we advocate for. These issues are often brought up, because most Mumbaikars experience the constant tug-of-war for space, especially when accessing or leaving a suburban rail station after a hectic commute.
Here’s the reality: The judiciary, the administration, the media, and even citizens have all focused on symptoms rather than addressing the root cause. They’ve been offering unsustainable solutions to a problem, driven largely by market forces. Declaring 150-metre station areas as ‘no-hawking’ zones, eviction drives by municipal corporations, or political parties orchestrating eviction riots to score populist points — none of these solutions work in the long run. As long as the demand for affordable goods exists, there will be hawkers to meet that demand.
Need for sustainable solutions
Hawkers exist due to a combination of factors: poverty, the resulting high demand for affordable goods, the unaffordability of formal retail spaces for vendors, the absence of a comprehensive regulatory framework, and, more recently, the lack of effective policy implementation. These factors contribute to the widespread prevalence of street hawking in Mumbai. It forms a vital part of the informal economy, supporting many livelihoods through sales and bribes.
Hawkers are here to stay. Disrupting this equilibrium jeopardises numerous livelihoods, and as a result, any forced change typically reverts to the status quo after a short period. This explains why eviction drives rarely succeed in the long term, often exposing the government’s hypocrisy and cruelty.
Read more: A ‘hafta’ system haunts hawkers in Mumbai
Tackling the space problem
We need to address the root causes of this space conflict to achieve lasting improvements for both citizens and street vendors.
If we accept that hawking, as an activity, will persist until the unique socio-economic conditions in Mumbai, India, and the Global South change, we can address the space problem. I often share this fact at our community events: Crawford Market in Mumbai was built in the 1860s when the city’s population was around 6.4 lakh. With the population 36 times larger now, have we built 36 more municipal markets the size of Crawford Market across the city? As the city densifies, the demand for amenities like schools, hospitals, playgrounds, crematoriums, transport, and markets grows. We need to plan for this and ensure that space is available for these essential activities.
The first step is determining how much space hawking requires. Under the Street Vendors Act of 2014, the government is supposed to survey all hawkers at least once every five years. This survey would give us the data needed to estimate the space requirements in each ward of the city.
Once we have that data, we can move to the next step: creating the space. When planning any market, two things matter most: location and design. The BMC has already invested in creating markets, but these have struggled with occupancy due to poor planning. If the market space is not easily accessible to commuters, footfall will be low, and hawkers won’t want to operate there. Anecdotally, we know hawking is most prevalent around busy railway stations — that’s where the foot traffic is, and that’s where we need more space.
Cluster redevelopment
Here is what the government can do:
- Create an administrative framework that facilitates the cluster redevelopment of the areas surrounding stations.
- Make efficient use of space using modern building techniques.
- Build an entirely new commercial complex out of these spaces.
- Relocate existing shops and outlets to the lower levels.
- Ensure well-connected municipal markets occupy the upper levels, accessible via escalators and heavy-duty lifts for transporting goods.
- Connect the station concourses and foot-over bridges directly to these markets through walkways.
- Sell upper floors to offices, hotels, restaurants, and co-working spaces, which are less dependent on foot traffic.
There is significant untapped economic potential around our rail stations. A cluster redevelopment project could tap into this potential and align with the transit-oriented future our city strategy documents advocate.
Read more: Why it is important to recognise streets as ‘places of work’
Will it be disruptive? Yes, cluster redevelopment is undoubtedly a complex process that involves numerous stakeholders and intricate negotiations. However, there is a proven precedent for success. The Bhendi Bazaar redevelopment project, spearheaded by the SBUT Trust, has successfully overcome these challenges and is now well into its advanced stages of construction.
While there will undoubtedly be debates about aesthetics and preserving our urban fabric, these concerns are not insurmountable. We don’t want to sanitise our historic station areas with soulless glass-facade malls, but it’s essential to improve circulation around our busy stations. We can enhance these spaces while maintaining their organic architecture. Remember, the current status quo is unsustainable from a quality-of-life perspective.
Will it be expensive? Yes, acquiring land around rail stations is costly, and compensating existing retail owners during construction adds to the expense. However, this upfront cost can easily be absorbed by municipalities and urban local bodies, who regularly spend thousands of crores on road infrastructure that benefits far fewer people. A project like this would serve many people daily, significantly improving their quality of life. Moreover, once operational, it’s likely to become net profitable within a few years.
An upgrade for vendors and commuters
Imagine: You’ve just alighted from a train and taken an escalator to the concourse. You remember you need groceries, so you board another escalator to the municipal market level, seamlessly connected to the railway station. The market features spacious walkways, good ventilation, adequate lighting, and noise-dampening walls. It also has clear signage to guide you to the vegetable section and well-marked exits.
The building offers a weatherproof bazaar space, the maintenance of which is funded by the licence fees collected from vendors, ensuring sustainability. You can then take a lift to the ground floor and access wide, pedestrian-only walkways that lead you to bus or rickshaw stands, all navigated by clear signage. Won’t that be a significant upgrade?
Let me be clear: street-level hawkers serve a vital role, such as providing “eyes on the street” for safety, especially at night, and adding vibrancy to neighbourhoods. I don’t intend to take that away. Even as I envision this redevelopment, I would still like to see a rationalised amount of street hawking present, within well-demarcated spaces, licensed out to eligible hawkers as advocated by the existing IRC Codes. Currently, hawking takes up so much space that there’s no room left for walking or navigation.
It’s high time we start thoughtfully addressing urban space problems, understanding the nuances behind why they exist, and focusing on solving the underlying issues rather than continuing to apply failed solutions. We can do better as a society.
Also read:
- Rating Mumbai’s walkability: Which neighbourhood came out on top?
- Concretising Mumbai roads: How design can help create better road infrastructure