700-odd dustbins to dot strategic spots

the goan I networkrMAPUSArr“The council will be receiving 700-odd dustbins very soon. Although our main focus will be market, some of the dustbins will also be placed in areas where waste is being dumped in the city,” said Rohan Kavlekar, Chairperson of Mapusa Municipal Council (MMC). rShifting its focus on cleanliness in the market, MMC, Market Committee, Chairman, Sanjay Mishal informed that the council was also planning to install bio-toilets in key areas in the market. r“We will place dustbins at certain spots in every lane in the market.” r“We will also educate the vendors to place their waste in these dustbins instead of dumping it in the open,” Mishal said. rHe said MMC’s market committee has decided to give priority to cleanliness and restore order in the market with an aim to make shopping an enjoyable experience to customers visiting the Mapusa market. rReferring to the debris and open drains near the entrance of the fish market, he said nothing much can be done at the moment, as the GSUDA was constructing a parallel drain in the area. rHowever, the council will request the agency to complete the works as early as possible, he added. rListing a series of steps taken by the market committee to restore a system in the market, he said the entrance of the main market has been freed from all the vendors. r“Twenty-four vendors “ 12 on each side “ will be accommodated at the two side entrances of the market,” Mishal disclosed. rHe said it was a temporary facility and these vendors will have to shift whenever the council decides on a permanent vendor’s zone in the market. rHe also made it clear that all those vendors who have already been rehabilitated were not allowed to continue as vendors. If any more such vendors exist in the market, they will also be identified and evicted very soon, he added. rIt has come to the notice of the council that many vegetable vendors who have taken prime spots inside the vegetable market are also sitting outside in the open lanes. r“We have begun identifying such vendors and very soon we will evict such vendors with a strict warning,” the market committee chairman said. rStating that the anti-encroachment drive has not stopped and that it was a continuous process, Mishal said the council would work hard to clear all encroachments on the footpaths in Mapusa market. r“A handful of shopkeepers are protecting the vendors for their personal interest. We will clear all encroachments on the footpath. We are firm on that,” he said.