VASCO
Cleaning of the fire-ravaged Vasco Sunday Market will commence on November 2, followed by repair and restoration works in a phased manner, as efforts get underway to bring the market back to normalcy.
Vasco MLA Krishna Salkar said the work, which was earlier scheduled to begin on November 1, could not be taken up as Sunday was a holiday and the necessary official file had not been received. "We have not started the works today because it is a holiday and the file that we need to receive has not yet come. We will receive the file tomorrow morning and immediately begin with the cleaning process of the market. Thereafter, we will take up the repair works step by step from Monday itself," Salkar said. He said the restoration would be carried out systematically, beginning with the cleaning of the premises before taking up repairs, following the devastating fire that gutted several shops and caused heavy losses to scores of vendors.
Goods worth several crores of rupees were feared destroyed in the devastating fire that gutted around 140 shops and left hundreds of traders staring at an uncertain future just days before Diwali. The massive blaze, which broke out around midnight, turned the two-storey market complex into a raging inferno.
Meanwhile, MGP leader and former minister Deepak Dhavalikar visited the fire-ravaged market and met the affected vendors, assuring them of the party's support.
Dhavalikar also met the market association president and requested him to submit a list of affected vendors to enable the MGP to extend financial assistance on humanitarian grounds.
He further assured the vendors that the party would take up the matter with the government and urge it to expedite the verification of claims submitted by the affected traders, followed by the disbursement of compensation.
Dhavalikar said it was fortunate that the devastating fire had not claimed any lives, even as several traders suffered substantial losses after their shops and belongings were reduced to ashes.
