Kolkata: Twenty-four hours after the Calcutta High Court order, directing them to shift to temporary stalls at the Mounted Police Paddock grounds, the 528 traders at BC Roy Market still wondered where to begin. There are another 114 hawkers who were resigned to starting all over again, anywhere in the central part of the city. While the traders or stall-owners at the market have commercial spaces, which they call their own, the hawkers have nothing of the sort.Some traders were not sure whether the week’s leeway granted verbally by the court counted from Monday, Aug 24, when the order was passed or from Wednesday, Aug 26, the date of the ultimatum given by the PWD in its July 30 notification. A few hawkers were seen packing on Tuesday. Arun Shaw, a hawker, said, “Our names were not registered by the Metro authorities as we don’t have designated shops. We will have to look for a suitable place for hawking or else, we will starve with our families.”The 528 temporary stalls at the paddock was built by Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (RVNL), the agency implementing the 14km Purple Line or the Joka-Esplanade corridor, so that the traders at BC Roy Market, popularly known as Maidan Market, can run their business from there until the Esplanade metro station was built after dismantling the existing market.The state PWD had on July 30 issued a notification that the 528 traders should shift out of the market by Wednesday (Aug 26) but the traders’ body moved court against it. The high court on Monday dismissed the writ petition by the BC Roy Market traders’ body and directed them to shift to the temporary stalls built by RVNL to make way for the Purple Line’s Esplanade metro station. Justice Partha Sarathi Chatterjee asked the petitioners, Dr BC Roy Market Stall Holders’ Association, to shift in a week’s time as their grievances have already been fulfilled by the authorities concerned.“We are aware of the court’s verdict and are waiting for the written version. We know we must shift to the new stalls but it cannot be done overnight. We need to close shop for a day or two, to pack all the wares. This means losing business,” said Binoy Hazra, a stall-owner. Many have stored their goods inside spaces turned into godowns. “Look at the lot—goods stored over months and years have to be shifted out. It won’t be easy,” said Paritosh De, another stall-owner.Hours after the court order on Monday, Kishore Manglani, general secretary of the traders’ association, told TOI, “We are yet to receive the court order. But if the court has told us to shift, we shall shift.”
