GUWAHATI: For 36-year-old Rajat Das (name changed), the SS Market in Fancy of Market is his world. It has been the place where he grew up and learnt the art of trading in goods. Puja and Bihu seasons are his favourites; the rush of people allows him to make decent money – but that was till last year.
This April, just after the Bihu season, he and around 200 other hawkers were forcibly shifted from this famous vending area of SS Road. There was a Gauhati High Court order and Rajat and the other 200 hawkers could not do much. The authorities have given them space in the next lane at the Guwahati Municipality Market, but the hawkers are not keen on shifting.
Why the hawkers of SS Road don’t want to shift
The building that has been provided for them by GMC was visited by this reporter and as per the claims of the hawkers it is simply unsuitable for their business. The road leading to the market is already crowded on both sides by fruit sellers. Moreover, it is more attached to the grocery items market and is not a footfall area. The height of the floor is low according to the hawkers. The entry to the passage that leads to the mezzanine floor is entirely occupied by vegetable wholesalers.
“It was actually meant for the fish market. They are trying to send us there as they want to tell the court they have given us space. The total number of slots in that building is for 52 shops. We will require four times that area,” said Ramesh who deals in denims.
The hawkers were supposed to share the floor with the fish sellers. Interestingly, there were no fish sellers to be found when this reporter visited the spot. The whole floor was empty. A few daily wage labourers were sleeping on the floor. On being enquired where the fish sellers were the other residents said that the fish sellers don’t come here.
“Only a single old man used to come and sell his fish. They are fighting a case in the court as they are not happy with their relocation. The fish sellers were not able to clear their stocks on regular basis as they were suddenly moved to this new location. This led to losses and they finally gave up the spot,” explained a vegetable seller.
It was learnt that only seven of the fish sellers are paying the fee to the GMC for retention, the rest have not bothered. The fish seller story is for another day.
“This shows that the administration, by taking the cases to court, has been trying to ruin lives. Why give a spot to someone that will lead to losses and kill his livelihood? Who is going to pay for all this?” said a hawker.
“If the police or the municipality administration has to shift hawkers, they will have to shift everyone. The whole Guwahati has to be made clean. Why only this road has been made the target? What about Lakhtokia, Kumarpatty and Athgaon sides? What about Ganeshguri? I am 55 years old and my father died doing this business. This is everything we have. Over a thousand families have been affected,” said another hawker.
The SS Road hawker market has divisions within themselves. There are two major groups that operate there. The rest are temporary hawkers from other parts of the city who come and sell their wares only during festive seasons.
“There are two parties in this – one from LIC building towards the police point, and other towards the river side. The GMC and police keep on disturbing and coming here during business hours. We display our wares on a bed sheet on the road and at the appropriate moment we just wrap up everything and run.
This is such a nonsensical thing. We have lost the case in the court and now we have become like street beggars who are shoved aside by everyone. We don’t have money to fight the case. We are just like daily wage earners, we earn and spend every day,” said Rajat.
“The place that has been given to us is not ample. If the hawkers shift there it will take four such areas. It is already crowded on all sides. Customers don’t want to go to such places. This is a regular connection to other clothes and apparel stores to fancy bazaar. It has been here for a long time now,” he added.
Business has gone down and is affecting the lives
Ramesh has been a hawker for 40 years now. He is 52 years old and has been continuing his father’s business in the popular SS Road market at Fancy Bazar. His whole life has been about selling clothes to people who come from all walks of life. The festive season brings joy and excitement as it is the primary earning season. But this year, after the hawkers were asked to vacate the SS Road by the GMC, things have changed in this stretch of the market. This sudden change has left the hawkers high and dry. They could not do much against the forces working against them. Business has been severely affected due to the court’s decision.
“Now we are like peddlers of clothes. We run when the GMC and the police chase us. This is so bad for business. Due to the evictions we have lost area. We sell only in small quantities as we have to be ready to run with our goods when the officials come. There is no variety, we sell less stock. It is the worst puja business in my whole life,” said Hari, who has been in the business for over 20 years.
“There is no proper settlement. We feel so cheated. The municipality suddenly told us we have just 15 days to change our location. Nothing could be done. On the day of eviction things were ugly but we had to give up as it was a court order,” said Ramesh.
“The last six months have been very tiring for us. We had to let go our spots, we lost our customers due to the uncertainty and now there seems very less hope that anything good might happen. Post Bihu this is the festive season, but we are not getting the kind of response as there is too much of uncertainty,” lamented Kishore, who deals in ladies’ items.
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Bleak future for many hawkers
Fifty-year-old Pal who deals in kids wear says, “I am getting old and this whole development has brought immense pressure in my life. How am I going to earn my living? I have a family to look after. At this age, I can’t go out and venture into new business. Some of the traders have prospered from this SS Road market and have gone out to newer avenues. Not everyone is lucky to get out of this.
Syndicate, collection of money, partisanship; allegations follow
“There have been allegations through news in papers and through media that a syndicate is being run at the SS Market in Fancy Bazar. A daily collection of money is the norm here. Somebody has put these allegations in the media that this is all illegal and should be stopped. It is all a ploy to paint us in bad light,” said S Das from the group that is fighting a case in the Gauhati High Court.
“According to the National Policy on Urban Street Vendors, 2009 and the Street Vendors Act, 2014, if it is an old market and if the government wants a piece of the area, they will have to provide a vending zone to the hawkers before evicting them. After that, as per the Act we appealed in the Gauhati High Court and the Court instructed GMC that within three months they should provide a vending zone to the sellers.
In our earlier report published in this Weekly, the then GMC additional commissioner, Deba Kumar Mishra, had this to say, “We have relocated them to a GMC market where they can continue their business. The third and fourth floors have also been refurbished for the same. GMC is also planning on making parking facilities there as well. If they (vendors) are not satisfied with the arrangement, then nothing can be done about it. You cannot satisfy everyone.”
“We had given three options: Mahavir Park, GMC Parking behind Mahendra Mohan Hospital, Panbazar or inside the Central Jail Campus. They won’t agree with us. We are pursuing our case in the High Court and all these court procedures take time,” said Das.
This time, the whole story has been from the perspective of the hawkers. The take of the authorities and other stakeholders on this will be soon followed up. Stay plugged.
