Occupying the sidewalks by hawkers in Sylhet is not new. Even with various initiatives, the problem is not being solved. Court orders are repeatedly ignored. Sylhet City Corporation took the initiative of rehabilitating hawkers in 2020 to alleviate the traffic congestion of Sylhet metropolis, free sidewalk encroachment, and ensure civic amenities. Sylhet Metropolitan Police came forward in this work. By the end of that year 2020, a joint effort was made to rehabilitate the hawkers in the Laldighirpar field behind Nagar Bhavan at a cost of about 26 lakhs. There was quite a response to it. The hawkers were taken to the open space in Laldighirpar behind the city building.
The rehabilitation program started on December 16, 2020. First, about 1,100 floating traders were listed along the three-kilometer stretch of road from Kinbridge to Chowhatta. After that, temporary shophouses were constructed in the space of Laldighirpar. From December 22, as per the list, the work of rehabilitation of hawkers started at that place. Shops are made of bamboo after listing the names of the hawkers. Apart from this, roads and electricity are also provided with brick ceilings. The market of resettled hawkers was quite concentrated there.
But two years later, that space is now largely empty. Two-thirds of barred hawkers no longer sit there. They have again come to different roads and sidewalks in the city. The hawkers continue their business by occupying the footpaths as well as the roads all over the city, ignoring the hawker rehabilitation initiative of the city corporation. On the pretext that there is no business in that place, they have started to do business again on the street. As a result, as the traffic congestion is increasing on the one hand, the public walking path has been narrowed on the other hand. The number of mobile hawkers is increasing day by day due to the silence of the city corporation.
The major commercial areas of Sylhet city are Bandar Bazar, Zindabazar, Chowhatta, Rikabi Bazar, Amberkhana, and Surma Market Point. In these areas, hawkers run businesses by occupying the sidewalks on both sides. They are now doing business every day along about 10 kilometers of footpaths in the metropolis.
Sometimes the city corporation conducts the eviction drive in name only. However, it is not possible to free the occupation. Whenever the city corporation conducts a raid, the hawkers run away, and after the raid, the hawkers occupy the pavement again.
On the ground, it can be seen that there are only a few hawkers in the shops allocated for the rehabilitation of hawkers. And the rest of the hawkers are carrying on their business by occupying the various streets and sidewalks of the city as before. The entire background is empty except for a few shops.
Traders say that even though people come here in the early days of opening the market, it is decreasing day by day. Due to the lack of business, many have returned to the streets to do business.
Balyl, a resident of Zindabazar, said that there is always a jam due to hawkers occupying the road. Sometimes it takes 20 to 30 minutes if there is a jam. The main reason for this is that most of the roads and footpaths are under the control of hawkers. He demanded strict implementation of the hawker rehabilitation program.
In this regard, the Chief Executive Officer of Sylhet City Corporation, Mohammad Badrul Haque said, I have only been joining the City Corporation for a few days, so I cannot speak well about these issues yet. I will look into the matter. Necessary action will be taken.
Sylhet City Corporation Mayor Ariful Haque Chowdhury was repeatedly called on the phone to talk about this, but he did not receive the call.
