MAPUSA
Soon after demolishing the dilapidated structure housing the beef and pork traders in Mapusa market, Mapusa Municipal Council (MMC) decided to construct temporary structure to house the displaced traders at whopping cost of Rs 15 lakh.
The council has decided to construct a total of 15 stalls of temporary nature near the waste sorting site and on one side of the fish market.
Nine stalls will be allocated to beef and six to pork traders. Each stall will have an area of around 25 sqmts.
Although temporary in nature, the stalls have been constructed with proper masonry work and will have water and electricity connection.
The enormous expenditure to construct the stalls of temporary nature has raised questions in the minds of Mapusa residents.
“Spending Rs 15 lakh for temporary stalls with pucca masonry walls is criminal waste of public money,” said Advocate Mahesh Rane, a resident of Mapusa. “By the time the stalls are ready the cost will escalate to Rs 20 lakh or more,” he added.
He said for almost five to six years when the new fish market building was being constructed in Mapusa, the fish vendors were made to squat in a make-shift shed covered with cheap tin sheets and wondered why the beef/pork traders were given special privilege.
The Mapusa People’s Union secretary J T Shetye said that MMC hasn’t got all the mandatory approvals to construct the stalls even if they were of temporary nature.
“The civic body has not got the approval of the North Goa Planning and Development Authority to construct the stalls. If a common man does not comply with rules the council swoops down and takes action against him. Who will take action against the council?” Shetye questioned.
Sources in the engineering section said that the beef/pork traders will have to be housed in the temporary structure for at least two years before the new structure comes up.
The council was yet to appoint a consultant to draw a plan for the new structure, sources further said.
Defending the construction of the temporary stalls with masonry works, MMC Chairperson Rohan Kavlekar said that his council stressed on hygiene and clean surroundings.
“Wherever possible, we will make use of old equipment to reduce the cost. For example, the roof of the stall will be covered with old sheets that were used for the waste treatment shed. But we will not compromise on cleanliness,” Kavlekar said.
Meanwhile, beef traders were getting jittery as work on the temporary stalls was going on at a slow pace.
“We were promised charge of the temporary stalls within 15 days but the way the work has been going on at the site it looks impossible,” said Goush Bepari, a beef stall owner.
