A BJP corporator has urged the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to pilot a regulated hawker zone at Colaba Causeway in Mumbai, drawing on the Singapore government-managed hawker centre model. BJP corporator Makarand Narwekar has written to BMC Commissioner Ashwini Bhide recommending that the civic body design, own, and rent out uniform street-vending stalls to eligible vendors. The proposal also seeks to limit further illegal encroachments while organising vendors into designated spaces.
Narwekar’s demand is made as the BMC is distributing QR code-based identity cards to street vendors. He cites a 2014 civic survey that counted nearly 99,435 hawkers in Mumbai, describing it as an opportunity for the city to modernise street vending. He says BMC currently provides conservancy facilities to hawkers free of cost and that the new rental policy could generate revenue for high-standard civic services such as cleanliness drives and waste monitoring.
The corporator argues the plan could improve pedestrian movement and support tourism and related initiatives in South Mumbai, including linking the concept to Kala Ghoda’s vehicle-free efforts.
