The issue came up during a BMC Standing Committee discussion on a proposal to issue QR code-enabled identity cards to 99,435 eligible hawkers

Published on: Aug 15, 2026, 08:16:10 IST

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Mumbai: As the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC’s) Pedestrian First campaign gathers pace, with hundreds of encroachments cleared and hawkers evicted from footpaths, corporators across party lines on Friday questioned the civic administration’s action against hawkers, particularly those who are eligible to vend.

The issue came up during a BMC Standing Committee discussion on a proposal to issue QR code-enabled identity cards to 99,435 eligible hawkers. Several corporators questioned the rationale behind spending nearly ₹1.67 crore on the ID cards when the civic administration was simultaneously carrying out eviction drives against these very hawkers.

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) group leader Yashwant Killedar questioned the administration’s approach, saying that hawkers should not be removed until permanent vending zones are allotted to them. He also alleged that enforcement was more intense in areas such as Dadar compared to Andheri, questioning whether the location was determining the intensity of action.

Mahim corporator Sheetal Gambhir asked the Standing Committee chairperson to direct the civic administration to stop taking action against eligible hawkers. “Several hawkers in my ward have been vending for nearly three decades. Despite that, they are not being spared by the BMC and the police,” she said.

The Bombay High Court had directed the BMC to issue QR-code-enabled identity cards to 99,435 eligible hawkers, with the order dated May 6 also becoming a point of reference during Friday’s discussion.

Corporators questioned whether hawkers who have been identified but whose status is yet to be finally determined by the Town Vending Committee (TVC) should continue to be evicted.

Kandivali corporator Ajanta Yadav, from the Congress, questioned why the proposal had been brought before the committee when the card distribution process was already underway.

“The distribution started on June 1, and approximately 47,000 of the nearly one lakh identity cards have already been distributed. Half the work is done. It does not even matter whether we give approval or not,” said a dejected Yadav.

Leader of the House Ganesh Khankar raised concerns over duplication, claiming that some individuals may have been enrolled more than once. “A person set up three stalls and got enrolled as three hawkers, while in reality there was only one person,” he said.

Yadav pushed back, saying, “These 99,000 people have been accounted for by the BMC, and the high court has also seconded it. It is not right to say there is duplication after so much verification was done,” she said, referring to the exercise conducted in 2014.

Following the discussion, Standing Committee chairperson Prabhakar Shinde directed the administration to instruct the police and civic officials to stop evicting eligible hawkers.

The administration, however, defended the Pedestrian First campaign. Prajakta Lavangare-Verma, additional municipal commissioner (city), denied allegations of selective enforcement. “The enforcement has not been selective. We have evicted wherever necessary,” she said.

A senior civic official said action against unauthorised hawkers was integral to the campaign and that even eligible vendors could face action if they exceeded the space allotted to them.

“How will we make Pedestrian First if hawkers encroach everywhere? Action has also been taken against eligible hawkers who occupy more space than what has been allocated to them. I am of the firm opinion that their licences should be suspended if they are found repeatedly violating the norms and encroaching beyond their allotted space,” the official said, requesting anonymity.

The official also rejected the suggestion that the civic action was excessive, arguing that the campaign was focused on locations where pedestrian movement was being affected.

Citing road-safety concerns, the official added that 41% of road accident victims are pedestrians, making unobstructed pedestrian movement a key objective of the campaign.

Pedestrian First is a major citywide drive launched by the BMC earlier this month to clear 320 kilometers of footpaths across Mumbai. The initiative targets illegal hawkers, unauthorised ramps, parked vehicles, and other encroachments to ensure safe, accessible walkways for pedestrians.

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