After CM Mamata's outburst, police begin evicting encroachers from footpaths in Kolkata

A police official said that hawkers, who had set up stalls to sell food items, garments, and various products across the city and Salt Lake, were told to remove their structures.

Kolkata: A day after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed strong displeasure over the encroachment of footpaths in Kolkata and its neighbouring Salt Lake area, police on Tuesday started an eviction drive to remove all obstacles.

Hawkers, who had set up stalls to sell food items, garments, and various products across the city and Salt Lake, were told to remove their structures, a police officer said.

The Kolkata Police, with the help of earthmovers, started evicting encroachers from different parts of the city, including the footpaths in front of the state-run SSKM Hospital in the Bhowanipore area, Hatibagan and Gariahat areas from Tuesday early morning, he said.

Similar was the scene in Sector V, the information technology hub, and Secor III in the satellite township of Salt Lake.

"We are not allowing any encroachment on the footpaths of the city. First, we are asking them to remove their makeshift structures from where they run their businesses," a senior officer of Kolkata Police said.

"In case they are not cooperating, we are using the earthmovers to dismantle and remove the structures," the police officer said.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday alleged that civic amenities almost everywhere in the state have gone for a toss and lashed out at the party colleagues, MLAs, councillors, bureaucrats and police officers over several issues, including encroachments of footpaths and pathways in and around the city.