Due to the entrapment of plastic in the drain, there is a problem in drainage. As a result, many parts of the city were submerged during the monsoons. To address that problem, Howrah Municipality has already banned the use of plastic. This time Kolkata Municipality took the initiative to make the footpath of Kolkata city plastic free. There are many hawkers around the footpaths of Kolkata city. But, in such a situation, the umbrella of the hawker’s shop is made of plastic. This time the Calcutta Municipality is planning to make a tin umbrella over the hawkers’ shop. In such a situation, the municipality is also considering giving umbrellas to the hawkers to protect them from rain.
The issue came up in the Municipal Corporation session on Saturday. Borough president Jasmine Biswas complained about the contamination of the pavement hawkers’ stalls. He also raised the issue of plastic tent catching fire. When asked what steps have been taken by the Kolkata Municipality, Mayor Debashis Kumar replied, Kolkata Municipality has taken steps to make footpaths free from plastic. Mayor Firhad Hakim said that a plan has been made to tin the tents of the hawkers’ shops.
He said that the hawkers on the footpath will no longer put up tents on the head of the shop. There is a plan to make tin. He said that if it rains, umbrellas will be given to the hawkers. At the same time, there will be no division in the matter of stalls, Farhad Hakim said. Incidentally, there are over 32,000 stalls on the footpaths of Kolkata city. Even before this, a hawker stall on the sidewalk has caught fire several times. In this context, Firhad Hakim said, measures should be taken to prevent such incidents before the fire starts.