MUMBAI: Excitement and hope hung in the air as hawkers from across the city gathered at the BMC headquarters on Saturday evening to hear the results of the Town Vending Committee (TVC) elections. Following a Bombay high court order of March 23, the BMC is set to declare the results of the elections conducted in August 2024.
With counting underway till the time of going to press, the civic body said it would announce the results for seven TVCs across city divisions, along with one apex committee, after the entire process is completed. The returning officer will then distribute certificates to the elected members. Around 200 to 250 employees of the licence department undertook the counting process along with returning officers.
A total of 33,407 vendors were eligible to vote in the 2024 TVC elections.
“Now we have an official platform in the BMC from where our voices will be heard and we will be able to participate in the decision-making process,” said Swapnil Dhumal, a third-generation hawker from Malad who contested from Zone 4 (between Andheri and Malad). Dhumal said being part of the TVC would help determine the creation of hawking zones in Mumbai. “We should be allowed to vend from our current locations and not be expected to go to far-flung areas where there are no takers,” he emphasised.
The new TVCs for the city’s seven zones are expected to determine hawking zones and frame rules governing street vending. Each TVC will have eight hawker representatives, besides BMC officials and representatives from the police, NGOs and citizens’ associations.
However, the hawkers’ optimism is not shared by elected representatives and residents’ groups. Those like Madhu Poplai from the Pali Hill Residents Association, which represents 86 buildings and 16 bungalows, are already apprehensive about the shape of things to come and have decided to oppose hawking zones in their area.
“At Pali, despite having a proper BMC market, vendors tend to hawk on the streets while using the market as a godown,” said Poplai. “Hawkers should not be allowed on our streets. We will keep a hawk’s eye, and if zones are allocated here, we will protest like we did in 2002.” She added that the BMC must first ensure that all illegal vendors are removed before implementing such zones.
Nayana Kathpalia from the Oval Road Residents Association, who was part of the previous TVC that marked hawking pitches across the city, said there was no clarity on whether earlier demarcated pitches would be retained or redrawn. “But you can’t simply drive hawkers away without offering an alternative,” she said.
Elected representatives such as Yashwant Killedar from the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena have demanded that the BMC reassess and verify the documentation of the 99,435 vendors declared eligible to vend. Killedar, who represents hawker-heavy Dadar—with an estimated 3,500 vendors near Dadar station—claimed that several outsiders figured on the list, while long-time local vendors were missing.
“There is a genuine need for vegetable and fruit vendors and they should be allowed,” he said. “However, Dadar attracts hawkers from across Mumbai, making the situation difficult to manage.”
Ashraf Azmi, Congress leader in the BMC, demanded that corporators be included in the TVCs. “While there are police representatives to address law-and-order concerns, elected representatives must also be part of the policy process,” he said.