Red zones in DSCC: Hawkers protest evictions in Gulistan
Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) has launched a drive to evict hawkers from roads and footpaths in the capital's Gulistan, which was earlier marked red zone.
The eviction drive began at 11:00am today (September 13, 2022) and continued till 4:30pm.
After the operation started, hawkers in the area blocked the road and chanted slogans protesting the drive.
Salauddin Mia, officer-in-charge of Paltan Police Station, told The Daily Star, "A group of hawkers brought out a procession on the streets from noon to protest against the eviction. Police removed them around 1:00pm to ease the resulting gridlock."
"The eviction drive has been going on since last Sunday. Hawkers are being evicted from the bottom of Hanif Flyover in Gulistan to Zero Point. About a thousand hawkers have been evicted in the operation. Evicted hawkers are seeking alternative places for their livelihood," Arif Chowdhury, president of the National Hawkers Federation, told this newspaper.
Arif alleged that DSCC had promised them an alternative place but no such site had been provided yet.
Earlier, on September 7 Dhaka South City Corporation announced that it would introduce a new system where city roads will be divided into three categories -- red, yellow and green. Red zones would be completely off-limits to hawkers.
On September 11, DSCC first launched an eviction drive in Gulistan. DSCC spokesperson, also Public Relations officer Md Abu Nasher, on that day said work is going on to mark zones—red, yellow and green--and the eviction drive was conducted after the Gulistan area was marked red.
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