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Come municipal elections, and the rehabilitation of the gadda traders in the commercial capital displaced by the High Court order on encroachments over a decade and half ago, has come back to haunt the civic body. For, while the Margao Municipal Council had acquired land admeasuring around 4000 sq mts at the Old Market for the rehabilitation of the displaced gadda traders, the issue concerning the traders remains unresolved till date, reports Guilherme Almeida
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A FAILED INITIATIVE
- In the late '90s, Margao Municipality had decided to acquire land admeasuring 4,000 sq mts for rehabilitating 100-odd gadda traders who were displaced following High Court's directions
- However, the proposal to shift the traders is yet to take-off, with gadda owners being forced to operate in road-widening areas of the city
- The traders have questioned GSUDA's new proposal to rehabilitate all gadda owners in one place at the Old Market, and have instead suggested spreading out the traders at selected locations in the city
- GSUDA also says that scheme has been modified to accommodate only 78 gadda traders from the initial plan of having 400 traders
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The avowed purpose behind Margao Municipality’s decision to acquire land admeasuring 4,000 sq mts was to rehabilitate the gadda traders displaced from the city's nook and corner as per the High Court order in the late '90s. The ground reality, however, remains unchanged till date. The acquired land remains idle for the moment, with successive councils only paying lip service to the issue of the rehabilitation of the 100 gadda traders, with gaddas presently operating in road-widening areas of the city. What has ostensibly come in the way of the implementation of the rehabilitation project is the moot point i.e. whether all the displaced gadda trades are sought to be rehabilitated at one place or spread across the city from the business point of view. No doubt, the Goa State Urban Development Agency (GSUDA) has now proposed a rehabilitation plan at the Old Market acquired land, but the gadda traders have raised the same old query as to why the affected traders are not spread out in the city and are instead sought to be concentrated at one place.
Says Madgaum Gadda Traders Association President, Prashant Naik: “It is surprising that neither the Margao Municipality nor the Goa State Urban Development Agency has till date taken the affected traders into confidence before finalising the rehabilitation scheme.”
Naik demanded to know how the Municipality or GSUDA can expect the traders to eke out a living by concentrating 400-plus traders at one place.
“The Association has all along been demanding that the displaced traders be rehabilitated at selected locations, including the bus stand, markets et al, so that they earn a living from the business. How can any one expect the gadda traders to survive if they are accommodated on the first floor of a building? Such a proposal would have succeeded if the site was located near the New Market business hub, but not certainly at the Old Market triangle,” he added.
Lamenting that successive councils have failed to address the long pending issue for a decade and a half, Naik said the gadda traders are hoping against hope that the new council will address the issue to the satisfaction of the traders.
When 'The Goan' contacted GSUDA officer Anil Ringe to shed light on the rehabilitation scheme drawn up by the Agency, he informed that the scheme has been modified to accommodate only 78 gadda traders at the Old Market site. He, however, said the scheme has failed to take off as the file pertaining to approvals from the planning point of view is stuck with the South Goa Planning and Development Authority (SGPDA).
“Initially, GSUDA had planned to accommodate all the 400-plus gadda traders at the old market site. But, as per the revised scheme, only 78 traders are proposed to the accommodated at the site in the proposed ground plus two storey building, which has provision for commercial offices and shops,” he said.
Incidentally, Ringe said that GSUDA will not be opposed to the proposal of the Gadda Association to rehabilitate some of the displaced traders at the proposed parking lot between Colva traffic circle and KTC bus stand.
“We have indeed made a provision for the gadda traders. The scheme can be modified to suit the requirements of the traders,” he added.
What’s interesting to note is that both the Margao MLA Digambar Kamat and his Fatorda counterpart Vijai Sardesai have rallied behind the gadda traders. The duo have agreed with the traders that any attempt to rehabilitate them at one place would spell doom for the small-time traders, defeating the very purpose of the rehabilitation plan.
