Chief Minister Pramod Sawant while offering financial assistance to vendors of Vasco Sunday market in Vasco on Monday.
VASCO
In a major relief to traders who lost their shops and merchandise in the devastating Vasco Municipal Market fire on October 29, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Monday evening disbursed the first tranche of financial assistance amounting to Rs 1.39 crore to 103 claimants covering all 145 affected shops.
The initial assistance was disbursed to eligible traders in the form of cheques, with individual relief ranging from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh, depending on the claims verified by the scrutiny committee.
In a significant decision aimed at restoring livelihoods at the earliest, Sawant announced that temporary market structures would be erected at the same location within a month.
The government has assured that every affected shop will receive compensation, irrespective of whether an individual trader owned or operated multiple units.
Sawant distributed the financial assistance to the victims at the conference hall of Mormugao Municipal Council, Vasco, in the presence of Mormugao MLA Sankalp Amonkar, Vasco MLA Krishna Salkar, South Goa Collector Egna Cleetus, and other officials.
Sawant said the government would release the next instalment of assistance after assessing the actual losses suffered by the traders.
He assured that the second instalment would cover at least 50 per cent of the assessed losses, providing further financial support to help traders rebuild their businesses.
The administration had received 145 applications covering 145 affected shops. However, scrutiny established that these represented 103 individual claimants, as some traders owned or operated two to three shops.
Several traders have submitted claims ranging from Rs 50,000 to Rs 10 lakh, while a few have reported losses exceeding Rs 10 lakh. The Chief Minister advised traders claiming higher losses to obtain duplicate purchase bills wherever possible to substantiate their claims.
