Chittaranjan Tembhekar
Navi Mumbai: The City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) on Monday commenced construction of the first hawkers’ zone for residents of Kalamboli. The corporation has planned a total of 12 such zones that will cater to 14 lakh residents living in areas from Kharghar to New Panvel in Raigad district.
The hawkers’ zone at Kalamboli is expected to be operational in 11 months. While Kharghar will have four such plazas, three each will come up in Kamothe and Panvel and two in Kalamboli. The total cost of the project is pegged at Rs 18-20 crore (Rs 1.5-2 crore for each plaza). “Of the registered 14 lakh population, 64% are working women. A facility that allows them to shop for their household needs under one roof close to their homes would make their life easier,’’ said Deepak Kapoor, joint managing director of CIDCO. Such markets are common in Singapore and London, he added.
At present, hawkers occupy road space and leave behind mounds of garbage. The first experimental hawkers’ zone is coming up on a 1,000 sq m plot in Kalamboli’s Sector 1 and will cater to residents of nearby sectors like 2, 5, 5E, and 6. The facility will have 52 shops on the ground floor with separate sections for vegetables and non-vegetarian items. The shops will be given to the listed hawkers of Kalamboli on no-profit and no-loss basis, Kapoor said. He added that each shop, measuring around 7 ft x 7 ft, will be sold at Rs 842 per sq ft, whereas the cost on construction would be recovered from the 22 commercial shops that would be built on the first floor. According to Kapoor, the auction is expected to fetch at least Rs 4 lakh for each hawker’s shop (otla or galla) and handsome commercial rates for the 22 commercial shops above them.
The first floor will mainly have tailors, stationery shops, cyber cafes, electronic repairs, STD booths, Xerox centres, grocers, hardware stores or ice cream parlours, Kapoor said. CIDCO has already finalised the hawkers’ list prepared by the hawkers’ association in Kalamboli in 2005. Of the list of 70 hawkers, the first 57 will be given shops while the rest would be accommodated in other proposed plazas, he added.
The plaza will have special machinery to lift garbage every three hours, a drinking water tank atop, proper illumination, and separate toilets for men and women, security guards and maintenance staff. For the first six months, CIDCO will maintain the plazas, and would later hand over the maintenance to the hawkers’ association. However, CIDCO would monitor the plazas regularly for cleanliness, Kapoor said. The second hawking plaza will come up in New Panvel’s Sector 12. Design for these zones will remain the same for all the 12 plazas.
Navi Mumbai: The City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) on Monday commenced construction of the first hawkers’ zone for residents of Kalamboli. The corporation has planned a total of 12 such zones that will cater to 14 lakh residents living in areas from Kharghar to New Panvel in Raigad district.
The hawkers’ zone at Kalamboli is expected to be operational in 11 months. While Kharghar will have four such plazas, three each will come up in Kamothe and Panvel and two in Kalamboli. The total cost of the project is pegged at Rs 18-20 crore (Rs 1.5-2 crore for each plaza). “Of the registered 14 lakh population, 64% are working women. A facility that allows them to shop for their household needs under one roof close to their homes would make their life easier,’’ said Deepak Kapoor, joint managing director of CIDCO. Such markets are common in Singapore and London, he added.
At present, hawkers occupy road space and leave behind mounds of garbage. The first experimental hawkers’ zone is coming up on a 1,000 sq m plot in Kalamboli’s Sector 1 and will cater to residents of nearby sectors like 2, 5, 5E, and 6. The facility will have 52 shops on the ground floor with separate sections for vegetables and non-vegetarian items. The shops will be given to the listed hawkers of Kalamboli on no-profit and no-loss basis, Kapoor said. He added that each shop, measuring around 7 ft x 7 ft, will be sold at Rs 842 per sq ft, whereas the cost on construction would be recovered from the 22 commercial shops that would be built on the first floor. According to Kapoor, the auction is expected to fetch at least Rs 4 lakh for each hawker’s shop (otla or galla) and handsome commercial rates for the 22 commercial shops above them.
The first floor will mainly have tailors, stationery shops, cyber cafes, electronic repairs, STD booths, Xerox centres, grocers, hardware stores or ice cream parlours, Kapoor said. CIDCO has already finalised the hawkers’ list prepared by the hawkers’ association in Kalamboli in 2005. Of the list of 70 hawkers, the first 57 will be given shops while the rest would be accommodated in other proposed plazas, he added.
The plaza will have special machinery to lift garbage every three hours, a drinking water tank atop, proper illumination, and separate toilets for men and women, security guards and maintenance staff. For the first six months, CIDCO will maintain the plazas, and would later hand over the maintenance to the hawkers’ association. However, CIDCO would monitor the plazas regularly for cleanliness, Kapoor said. The second hawking plaza will come up in New Panvel’s Sector 12. Design for these zones will remain the same for all the 12 plazas.
Analysis:
Hawkers and street vendors are part and parcel of urban life in India. Mostly illegal, their presence is a significant factor in the increase in overcrowding along our cities roads. However most of people find it convenient to shop from hawkers. To solve this problem of Hawkers without harming interests of both hawkers and consumers the City and Industrial Development Corporation CIDCO has come up with the proposed policy solution. It is called ‘Hawker Zone’ which is a replication of an open street market. It brings together vegetable hawkers from nearby informal markets, providing the basic facilities for consumer in nearby markets. It aims at providing mutually beneficial solution to customers and vendors.
As we know that Policy making is a process starts with the problem identification through demands for government action. This ‘public project’ has been come into shape in response of demands or claim of hawkers and consumers. The public policy is based on economic rationale of costs and benefits. A rational policy is one that achieves “maximum social gain” that is governments should choose policies resulting in gains to society that exceeds its costs by the greatest amount and government should refrain from policies if costs are not exceeded by gains. Now, in this case of Hwkers Plaza Project. The costs of building of infrastructure will be recovered from commercial shops. Thus, it is a policy that makes a better off paying for worst off. Also, the intangible benefits or benefits which can not be calculated directly (e.g. benefits due to clearing of traffic on roads, security and dignity of hawker) are definitely offset the costs.
Therefore, on the two basic principles of rationalism we can say that this public policy is a rational policy. This project demonstrates a public policy attempting for rehabilitation of street vendors on one end and interests of consumers on the other.
a. Policy should be adopted if benefits exceed costs. And b. Among policy alternatives, decision makers should choose the policy that produces the greatest benefit over cost.
a. Policy should be adopted if benefits exceed costs. And b. Among policy alternatives, decision makers should choose the policy that produces the greatest benefit over cost.
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