 KMC had conducted Operation Sunshine in 1996 to remove hawkers from Gariahat and Shyambazar.Following the hawker removal drive, the KMC commissioner, Asim Barman, had issued a notification imposing certain restrictions on the movement of hawkers on 21 streets in the city.Bikash Bhattacharya, Mayor of Kolkata, has said that hawkers would be allowed to stay on all pavements across the city and they would be allowed to occupy a third of the pavements along the streets but they would not be allowed to occupy space within a 50-metre radius of road crossings or build any structures.