Fish platforms inside the redeveloped wholesale fish market remain idle as the formal inauguration is yet to take place.
MARGAO
On July 16, South Goa Planning and Development Authority (SGPDA) Chairman and MLA Krishna Salkar announced that the long-awaited Margao wholesale fish market would be inaugurated within a week. At the time, he was confident that the ongoing Budget Session of the Goa Legislative Assembly would not delay the plan and assured that the market would open before the new fishing season on August 1.
More than a month has passed since the season began, but the promised inauguration has not taken place. The SGPDA Chairman and the government have not given any update, leaving the project hanging.
The Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation (GSIDC) completed the market months ago, even redesigning a fishermen’s mural to give it a Goan touch. Despite this multi-crore investment, the facility remains unused.
At present, fish-laden trucks from outside Goa continue to park on the adjoining open ground, while the new platforms remain empty. Fish brought in by traditional fishermen is being unloaded in a paved open space outside the compound wall. Wholesale trade continues in the open, in poor conditions, but no move has been made to shift the activity inside the modern market. Neither the SGPDA Chairman nor Margao and Fatorda MLAs, PWD Minister Digambar Kamat and Vijai Sardesai, have intervened to resolve the matter.
Ironically, the only ones gaining from the delay are migrant vendors, who operate inside the market premises. Though the space is meant only for wholesale trade, they sell fish in retail after paying sopo fees to the PDA’s appointed contractor.
Adding to the mess is the unresolved tender for wholesale sopo fee collection. Nearly two years have passed since SGPDA floated the tender, but objections to a clause seeking at least 10 years’ experience in the fish trade have stalled the process.
The delay in opening the market and finalising the sopo tender has raised serious concerns about the administration’s efficiency. Stakeholders and the fishing community remain stuck in uncertainty, waiting for long-promised action.
