Locals wonder if cleanliness drive will fade away soon
FORCED INTO ACTION: Civic workers spray water around the Mapusa fish market on Monday as part of a hasty clean-up drive.
MAPUSA
It took a citizen’s complaint and a final notice from the Urban Health Centre (UHC), Mapusa, to shake the civic officials out of their slumber and spur them into action to clean up the Mapusa fish and meat market — one of the town’s busiest commercial spaces that had long been in a state of neglect.
Following the stern directive from the health authorities, a joint inspection by officials from the UHC and the Mapusa Municipal Council (MMC) on Monday revealed that belated but visible steps have been taken to restore some semblance of cleanliness and order at the market and its surrounding areas.
However, the larger question haunting citizens remains — will this drive be sustained or is it merely a temporary show to appease the health authorities?
Admitting lapses in maintaining hygiene, Mapusa Market Committee Chairman Sainath Raul said the civic body alone cannot shoulder the responsibility of cleanliness.
“The Mapusa municipal market attracts people from all over Goa and many tourists. Keeping it clean is crucial, and vendors and shopkeepers must cooperate,” Raul said.
He maintained that though the civic body should have acted as soon as the complaint was filed, efforts were now underway to improve the market environment.
“We have achieved around 70–80 percent improvement. Waste at the entrance has been cleared, and we’ve requested the electricity department to remove unused poles. Lighting on staircases will also be restored soon,” he added.
Raul further informed that the MMC has sought GSUDA’s assistance to remove unused machinery, while cleaning is now being carried out thrice a day. Boards displaying cleaning timings will soon be put up, and fines will be imposed on those found spitting or littering. “New taps will be installed in the fish market, and ‘no spitting’ boards are being erected,” he said.
While officials tried to highlight the clean-up as progress, residents were not impressed. Concerned citizen Mahesh Rane slammed the civic body for acting only after the UHC’s notice. “The officials woke up only when the health department stepped in. The market was so filthy that I challenge MLA Joshua D’Souza to spend even 15 minutes there,” Rane remarked.
He demanded that at least 50 workers be permanently deployed in the market to maintain cleanliness.
Echoing similar sentiments, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Jitesh Kamat said the UHC’s intervention had served as a much-needed wake-up call. “The notice was an eye-opener. But why did the MMC act only after being pushed? This shows a clear lack of accountability and apathy towards public health,” he said.
Kamat urged the council to sustain the cleanliness drive instead of reverting to old habits and suggested installing CCTV cameras to identify offenders indulging in unhygienic practices like spitting.
While Mapusa’s civic body scrambles to clean up the mess, the episode underscores a troubling reality – that action on public hygiene comes not from civic responsibility, but only when external pressure forces the officials to act.
