The Baina fish market, once a bustling centre of trade and livelihood for dozens of fish vendors, today resembles an abandoned warehouse.
VASCO
While the newly completed Vasco fish market is drawing praise as one of the town's most prestigious infrastructure projects, another fish market just a few kilometres away stands as a grim reminder of neglect, broken promises and administrative indifference.
The Baina fish market, once a bustling centre of trade and livelihood for dozens of fish vendors, today resembles an abandoned warehouse rather than a public market.
Cracked walls, broken roof sheets, shattered window panes and rusting grills tell a story of a facility that has been forgotten despite repeated assurances, inspections and announcements over the years.
For the handful of vendors who still cling to the market, every working day is a struggle. The majority have long abandoned the premises and shifted to roadside locations, choosing uncertainty over operating from a structure that many describe as unsafe and unfit for business.
From bustling market
to silent structure
A walk through the market paints a depressing picture. Water seeps through damaged roofing during the monsoon, fans hang broken from the ceiling, floors remain slippery and unhygienic, while several sections of the building bear visible signs of decay. The market that once housed nearly 20 fish vendors now has only three.
With little confidence in the condition of the premises, many residents prefer buying fish from roadside vendors or door-to-door sellers rather than entering the ageing structure. What was once a vibrant marketplace serving the community's daily "Nuste-Xitt-Kodi" needs now stands largely deserted.
Adding to the vendors' woes are security concerns. Broken windows and damaged grills have made the premises vulnerable to theft.
“We are struggling here. Most vendors have already left and shifted to the roadside. The market is in a terrible condition and people simply avoid coming inside. Earlier, there were around 20 vendors operating here. Today only three of us remain. The situation became so bad that intruders entered through broken windows and stole our stock of fish that had been stored overnight,” said one of the remaining vendors.
Irony of relocation plans
What makes the situation even more striking is a recent decision taken by the Mormugao Municipal Council (MMC) to shift Vasco's fish wholesalers to the Baina fish market.
The resolution was followed by inspections involving municipal officials, police authorities and revenue officers, who reportedly directed the clearing of areas at Kharewado to facilitate the proposed relocation.
Yet, the market earmarked to accommodate wholesalers continues to remain in a state of disrepair.
“How can wholesalers be expected to move into a market with damaged roofs, poor hygiene and no proper security? Existing vendors themselves have deserted the place. Expecting wholesalers to shift here without first making the market functional sounds more like a cruel joke than a practical plan,” remarked a resident of Baina.
Assurances that
never arrived
Months ago, local councillor Deepak Naik had assured that the market renovation project was being pursued under GSIDC funding and that temporary repairs would be undertaken while larger plans were processed.
The assurances included replacement of damaged roofing, repair of fans and minor restoration works to improve conditions for vendors. However, little appears to have changed on the ground.
The market continues to wear the same neglected look that it did years ago, while vendors continue waiting for the promised revival.
The Baina fish market is more than a crumbling structure. It is a symbol of how public infrastructure can slowly fade into irrelevance when maintenance, planning and execution fail to keep pace with promises.
As authorities celebrate the success of one fish market project, the silent corridors of Baina continue to ask an uncomfortable question: how many inspections, assurances and resolutions does it take to repair a market that has already been forgotten?
Until that answer arrives, the Baina fish market remains what it has become over the years — not a marketplace, but a forgotten project which is crumbling away.
