THE GOAN NETWORK
PANAJI:
The wait to purchase fresh meat from the market for Panjimites will get longer as the wrangling between the meat stall owners who were displaced after the old building was demolished and the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) over their court-ordered temporary rehab is showing no signs of ending soon.
Now, a move by the CCP to give space alongside the temporary shed for the fish vendors is being staunchly objected to by the meat stall owners who insist that it is impractical to sell meat via a sopo like arrangement.
According to M Bepari, an office-bearer of the Meat Traders Association, the CCP has proposed that they sit in the same shed used by fish vendors and carry out their business.
"We need freezers. Also, many don't consume meat and are put off by it. It is therefore not practical to place us in the same area as the fish vendors," Bepari said, adding that they have already identified an area where the CCP can build temporary stalls for them.
Some five beef stall owners who were housed in ground floor shops of the building demolished purportedly because it was unsafe had approached the Bombay High Court at Goa seeking their temporary rehabilitation until the new market building is built.
The High Court had then directed the CCP to come up with a rehab plan for them but the civic body later challenged the directive before the Supreme Court of India. When the matter was heard, it was suggested that both the sides should thrash out the disagreements and resolve the matter.
Officials of the CCP when contacted did not want to comment on the matter citing its sub-judice nature.
