The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) held a meeting with representatives of hawkers Tuesday, and asked them not to use tarpaulin sheets.
A major fire broke out at a five-storey building housing several commercial and residential units, in Gariahat early Sunday. While there were no reports of loss of life, several shops and residential units were gutted in the fire.
The meeting was attended by Deputy Commissioner Kalyan Mukhopadhyay, Assistant Commissioner Siddhartha Dutta, representative of the Hawkers’ Union Shaktiman Ghosh.
“Today, we held a meeting with hawkers including those who lost their valuables in the Gariahat fire. We requested them to remove tarpaulin sheets and they assured us they will do so soon. We assured them we will give them stalls and we also have plans to hand out square umbrellas such as those used in Thailand. These umbrellas will prevent them from using tarpaulin even in rainy season,” said Mayor Firhad Hakim.
Sources said some of the hawkers hit by the fire have received compensation. KMC officials said they will also give them movable carts soon. “We are trying to set up stalls that are 5 to 6 feet in length and 3 to 4 feet in width. Many hawkers had smaller stalls while some claimed they had bigger ones,” said an official.
