Fisheries Director admits fresh tender needed; Department ready with funds but waiting on SGPDA to act
The redeveloped market in Margao is ready for launch, but the core facilities promised to fishermen remain absent.
MARGAO
As the South Goa Planning and Development Authority (SGPDA) moves ahead with the inauguration of the long-delayed redeveloped Margao wholesale fish market, a key facility — the proposed cold storage unit — now faces an uncertain future.
The reason: the Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation (GSIDC), which was tasked with executing the redevelopment project, has officially closed the market construction contract. This development was confirmed by Fisheries Director Dr Shamila Monteiro, who informed 'The Goan' that GSIDC had intimated the Fisheries Department about the closure.
This effectively means that the cold storage unit — a central feature of the redeveloped market funded by the Central Government — will not be constructed as part of the existing wholesale market complex. As a result, Goan fishermen, including traditional ramponkars, magkars, and small boat owners, will be left without a cold storage facility in Goa’s only wholesale fish market to store surplus catch.
Dr Monteiro, however, clarified that the Fisheries Department still has sufficient funds at its disposal to build the cold storage unit, along with other proposed amenities under the market redevelopment plan. She added that the department will have to issue a fresh tender and appoint a new agency to carry out the construction of the cold storage unit as and when land is made available for the proposed facility.
What has apparently forced the GSIDC to close the contract was the long delay in handing over the balance land in the wholesale fish market for the execution of Phase I of the market project. Officials of the Fisheries Department, which has proposed the reconstruction and redevelopment of the Margao wholesale fish market, pointed out that the market land in question belongs to the SGPDA and not the Fisheries Department.
“The ball is now fully in the court of the SGPDA to take a call on whether the planning body wants the cold storage facility or not. If the PDA is in favour of the cold storage unit for the benefit of the traditional fishermen, then the it should make available the land for the facility to take shape before a fresh tender is floated to set up the facility,” a Fisheries official stated.
Incidentally, every time SGPDA Chairman, MLA Krishna Salkar, has been questioned by the media over the delay in executing work on the cold storage facility in the wholesale fish market, he has only assured that all facilities proposed in the market as per the tender would be executed.
That’s not all. Chief Minister Pramod Sawant had announced before work commenced on the wholesale fish market that the redeveloped market would have a cold storage facility.
Fatorda MLA, Vijai Sardesai, who is a member of the SGPDA, had also batted for the cold storage unit meant to benefit Goan fishermen, raising questions on whether the government or the SGPDA will push for the execution of Phase I of the project.
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FDA fish testing lab in limbo
MARGAO: It’s not just the cold storage unit that has failed to materialise in the redeveloped wholesale fish market — the FDA fish inspection laboratory is also yet to see the light of day.
Inquiries by 'The Goan' have revealed that several key facilities and amenities proposed for Block A of the redeveloped market complex remain incomplete. These include the FDA inspection laboratory, cold storage unit, ice flaking machine, and other essential infrastructure.
With the Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation (GSIDC) having closed the contract for the execution of the redeveloped wholesale fish market, the fate of these critical amenities now hangs in the balance.
Among the proposed facilities, the cold storage unit was intended to support local fishermen by preserving unsold catch, while the FDA’s fish testing laboratory was designed to ensure that fish transported from outside the State is tested for formalin contamination.
Since 2019, the State government has had an agreement with the Quality Council of India (QCI) to carry out fish quality checks at the Margao wholesale fish market and border check posts at Patradevi and Polem. Although fish sold at Margao’s wholesale market is currently being tested regularly for formalin, the South Goa Planning and Development Authority (SGPDA) had proposed establishing a permanent FDA office within the redeveloped complex to streamline testing operations.
However, how the SGPDA or the Department of Fisheries plans to make space available for the FDA laboratory within the market complex remains unclear at this point.
