Footpath, road grabbing woes for Khulna pedestrians
Like other divisional cities including Dhaka, the hawkers in Khulna keep grabbing the city footpaths too, causing sufferings to the pedestrians.
Not only that, such hawkers and a section of businesspersons have encroached upon the entire road at many places as though they are not satisfied only to grab the pavement to run their businesses.
For instance, if one goes to Clay Road, they may find such feature during the rush hours. They will have to squeeze to move forward or to get stuck on the spot.
On the road, the space from Dakbangla intersection to Station Road crossing is abuzz with the call by hawkers to attract customers. “Hawkers are all around -- on the footpath, on the road,” said Saiful Islam, a clothe trader at the nearby Baro Bazar market.
“No pedestrians can move easily from Baro Bazar to Dakbangla,” he said, adding that the makeshift shops of clothes, sandals, shoes and many other items multiply the sufferings during the monsoon when the road gets waterlogged.
If the pedestrian is a woman and she has her children with, she will be the worst sufferers.
Shyamoli Rani Roy, a resident of Iqbal Nagar, has to face similar situation in Picture Palace area adjacent to Dakbangla. “It is too difficult to walk through a narrowed down footpath,” she said.
Shyamoli, who used to take her fourth-grader son to Khulna Zila School on foot through the area, further said, “It is really irritating for a woman to walk past the area as there is a high chance for a man to harass her amid crowd.”
Some hawkers said they are on the footpath to make a living and have to pay Tk 10 to Tk 150 per day to police.
Such grabbing is also going unabated in Cemetery Road, Sheikh Para, Moylapota, PTI intersection, Royal crossing, Shantidham, Nirala, Gollamai, Tutpara, Sonadanga, KD Ghosh Road, Shibbari, BL college and Phulbari Gate areas.
“Which way will we pass through, a major portion of the road is occupied with vehicles for illegal parking and the footpath with hawkers and vendors,” said Tapon Das, a resident of South Pabla.
Khulna Metropolitan Police Commissioner Nibash Chandra Maji said they assist Khulna City Corporation as per its requirement to evict the grabbers.
He, however, denied the allegation of bribery. “None from the police personnel is involved in it.”
ROAD GRABBING
In Sheikh Para, most of the roads, including BK Roy Road and Sher-e-Bangla Road, are occupied by traders to run metal accessories business.
Are they powerful enough to do so in front of law enforcers? asked some residents.
Some traders, seeking anonymity, said they have to pay Tk 1,600 to Tk 2,000 per month to the ruling Awami League men as extortion to run such business by occupying BK Roy Road.
Rickshaw-vans, trucks and pickups always load and unload such accessories there.
Minara Parvin, 52, a dweller of Sheikh Para, said she is forced to get down from rickshaw and walk more than 400 metres from Sheikh Para crossing to reach home as BK Roy Road remains blocked with iron sheets and scraps lying scattered which are hazardous.
Echoing Parvin, her eighth-grader grandchild Nipa said welding machines are set up almost right in the middle of the road.
“I never use Sheikh Para Bazar road to take my daughter back from school, I always look for an alternative way,” said Rajesh Golder, a banker residing in the area.
Ratna Begum, a housewife living in Baitipara area, said, “Don't the authorities take actions in this regard?”
Denying the allegation, the city unit AL President Md Mizanur Rahman Mizan, also a lawmaker, told this correspondent that they do not support such illegal occupation. “I requested the law enforcers and the Khulna City Corporation authorities to evict the grabbers.”
KCC Mayor Md Moniruzzaman Moni said they often conduct drives to evict the occupiers but they come back repeatedly as influential political leaders harbour them. “We need collective efforts as the city is of all.”