NKDA to rehabilitate hawkers to new buildings, plans to turn temporary markets into mango orchards
Times of India | 2 June 2025
123 Kolkata: Close to 290 hawkers presently doing business at the temporary hawkers' market in different places of New Town are expected to be rehabilitated to two new buildings that have been set up by the New Town Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA), one at Tarulia and another near the Sukhobristi housing complex, by the end of this month. Once the identified hawkers are rehabilitated to the new buildings, NKDA plans to transform the market spaces, which were temporarily developed to allow hawkers to do business, into mango orchards.Officials said that the authorities were currently completing the final phase of setting up the two buildings, including the installation of electrical systems and other related work. "A total of 205 identified hawkers doing business at the temporary market near Sukhobristi housing will be shifted to the new complex which has been set up close to the housing. The temporary hawkers' market from which the hawkers will be shifted is planned to be converted into a mango orchard garden. This will help to increase the greenery of the township by developing pocket gardens," said an official.The Tarulia building will accommodate about 83 authorised vendors, according to officials. "We are expecting to rehabilitate the hawkers in the two buildings possibly by the end of this month," the official added.NKDA has been working to systematically relocating roadside vendors and hawkers to designated spaces across New Town over the past few years. Previously, the authorities allocated spots to 260 vendors at the market near TCS-Gitanjali.A survey was conducted by NKDA before last year's puja, in which 3,133 hawkers were identified as operating throughout New Town. The authorities have been working to relocate 1,887 registered vendors, with approximately 1,500 already settled in various rehabilitation stalls and markets.Additionally, NKDA plans to construct a five-storey market complex with a community hall in New Town BG block, Action Area I, to accommodate roughly 200 vendors currently operating near DLF.