All the roads and sidewalks of the capital Dhaka have become shopping malls, as every day hawkers or temporary shops are occupying new places on the road, giving rent.

Annual rent from these shops is about 4 thousand crores of taka, of which not even a penny is deposited in the government treasury. The workers employed as linemen are collecting this money in the name of the alleged leaders. Being a major source of extortion, the roads and footpaths have not been freed even in the alleged raids at various times. The initiative of holding a holiday market to rehabilitate hawkers did not work. On the contrary, street hawkers are constantly increasing.

In 2016, a study titled “The State of Cities 2016: Traffic Congestion in Dhaka City – Governance Perspective” by BRAC University stated that the two City Corporations of Dhaka collected Tk 1,825 crore from sidewalk hawkers annually, which at that time was two More than the total budget of the City Corporation. More than 60 crore taka were collected daily. In that study, the total number of hawkers in Dhaka was said to be 3 lakh. An average of 192 taka was collected daily from each hawker.

At present, the information of various organizations of hawkers claims that there are 350,000 hawkers in Dhaka city. Depending on the area and the size of the shop, a daily minimum of 50 taka to a maximum of 1000 taka is collected from them. An average fee of around 300 taka is collected from a hawker every day. Accordingly, 10 crores 50 lakh taka is collected daily from the hawkers, which is 3 thousand 832 crores 50 lakh taka per year.

This rate doubles a month before Eid. According to the sources, during the Eid season, only Tk 25 to 30 lakhs are collected daily from Newmarket, Tk 18 lakh from Gulistan, Tk. 20-25 lakh from Motijheel, Tk 10-12 lakh from Uttara area.

Recently, a young man opened an eatery on Barnamala Road in Shanirakhra in the capital. On condition of anonymity, he said, if my words are written in the newspaper, I will not be able to open the shop from tomorrow. I paid 15 thousand one time to pay for the shop. 150 taka per day for electricity and 100 taka for road fare. Two men came and took this money. They talked about the Chhatra League, Jubo League, Shecchasebok League, and police.

Meanwhile, two coconut sellers on the road inside the Bangabandhu National Stadium said that they have to pay Tk 100 per day.

Shopkeepers sitting on the road between Baitul Mukarram National Mosque and GPO said that depending on the size and location of the shop, they have to pay Tk 2 to 3 lakh once. Rent is 10 to 20 thousand taka per month. A daily contribution of Tk 150, of which Tk 100 is for police and political parties, Tk 30 for electricity bill and Tk 20 for the doorman.

When asked who they gave the money, a businessman said that after the Awami League came to power in 2009, 14/15 people from the government took over various places on this road after removing the BNP people. They took the place of one of them for 3 lakh rupees. The monthly rent is 15 thousand taka. Apart from this, another 150 taka has to be paid per day. If the government changes, someone else will take over.

Apart from footpaths from Shahjadpur to Subastu Nazarvally in North City, hundreds of temporary cloth shops occupy the side of the main road every afternoon. 150 taka is collected from each shop daily. A hawker said, if he does not pay the money, they will beat him, took to the police station. It takes 5 thousand taka to get released from the police station.

Meanwhile, the mayors of the two cities announced several times to make roads and sidewalks free of hawkers, but it did not work. Even though eviction operations are going on at different times, hawkers are increasing on the opposite road. The hawkers themselves are responsible for extortion.

Secretary General of Bangladesh Hawkers Union Sekender Hayat told Bangladesh Daily that hawkers are paying rent. But the government is getting nothing. We have written numerous times to the two city corporations for this. I have been looking for a hawker management policy for a long time. In 37 countries of the world, through such policies, hawkers sit on the sidewalks. Street food is also playing a role in tourism in Thailand. By validating the policy, it is decided in which area when hawkers will sit and in which area they will not sit.

“Then people will not suffer due to hawkers everywhere. Even poor hawkers can survive. Government will also get revenue. But the city corporation will not go that line. Because, their people also get share of money. If legalized by policy, hawkers would keep the streets clean. Basically no one wants the legitimacy of hawkers. Because, if there is an illegal hawker, even the driver of the police car can go away without paying money,” he added.

Md Moniruzzaman, Acting Chief Property Officer of Dhaka South City (DSCC) told Bangladesh Pratidin that the process of eviction of hawkers is an ongoing process of DSCC. Evacuation occurs almost daily. At the same time monetary penalties and imprisonment are imposed through mobile courts. A committee has been formed on sidewalk discipline. The committee has identified the sidewalks as green, yellow and red according to their importance. The committee is also working on how to get rid of hawkers permanently.

(The report was published in Bengali on print and online versions of The Bangladesh Pratidin on October 15 and rewritten in English by Tanvir Raihan)