MNS netas meet BMC chief, seek hawking zones as per SC ruling

The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), which has taken up a drive to remove illegal hawkers outside the railway stations, today met the city civic chief and demanded that hawking zones be set up in the city in line with the Supreme Court guidelines.
Senior MNS leaders, including former MLAs Bala Nandgaonkar, Nitin Sardesai, former corporator Sandeep Deshpande along with the other party functionaries, met BMC commissioner Ajoy Mehta and demanded that immediate implementation of Supreme court's guidelines given to regularise the hawkers.
"We met BMC commissioner Ajoy Mehta today and apprised him about the recent Supreme Court's ruling regarding the setting up of the Hawking zones to regularise the hawkers in the city. The commissioner assured us to give a seriously consider our demands," Nandagaonkar said.

Had the civic body and police discharged their duties properly, then there was no need for MNS workers to drive away the illegal hawkers operating near the railway stations, he said.
"We reminded the commissioner how the civic body had utterly failed in discharging its duty and why we have to chip in to free the passage from hawkers. Had the BMC taken prompt action against the hawkers, then his partymen would not have taken it up," he said.
The MNS has taken up the task of driving away illegal hawkers from around the city's railway stations in the wake of Elphinstone Road station stampede late last month, in which 23 people had lost their lives.