Under pressure due to the ongoing agitation against eviction ahead of the Kolkata leg of the FIFA Under 17 World Cup at Salt Lake on the eastern fringes of the city, the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has agreed to talks with the agitators after the matches are over.
Mayor Sabyasachi Dutta held a two-hour meeting with the protesters on Saturday. The development came a day before the first match of the Kolkata leg of the tournament, which will be played at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Salt Lake. Ten matches of the event will be held at the stadium from Sunday to October 28.
Protest rally on Sunday
Even after the civic officials agreed to discuss the issue after October 28, the protesters said their march, scheduled for Sunday, would go ahead as planned.
Saktiman Ghosh, convener of the Joint Forum against Evictions and general secretary of the Hawker Sangram Committee which is leading the agitation, said, “The Mayor has assured us that no further eviction will take place and he will discuss the issue on November 1,” Mr. Ghosh told The Hindu .
Mr. Dutta said: “At the meeting, we decided that till October 28 we will cooperate for the prestige of our country and State. We will discuss the issue on November 1.”
On Friday, the protesters had announced that they would take out a 5,000-strong march on Sunday from Sealdah in north Kolkata to the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan.
According to activists, “10,000 slum-dwellers and hawkers” have already been evicted and 7,000 more face the threat of eviction. “If the family members of the affected individuals are included, the number of people affected will be at least 1 lakh,” Mr. Ghosh said.
