MARGAO
The Margao Gandhi Market, controlled by the Ajgaonkars, remained open early Monday morning, while other markets including the SGPDA were all shut down as per the lockdown norms.
While the vegetable stalls in the Gandhi Market opened early Monday, playing host to hundreds of customers, the police arrived around 7.30 am with a message to shut down the market.
How the Gandhi Market, the hub of vegetable markets, remained open after the vendors were told to shut down on Sunday, remains unclear.
The Margao police arrived at the market only around 7.30 am, forcing the customers to leave and the vendors shut down the sheds.
It could not be ascertained whether the police did not convey proper message to the Gandhi Market vendors led by Deputy Chief Minister Manohar Ajgaonkar that all the city markets should be closed during the lockdown.
Vegetable and fruit vendors who came to the SGPDA market on Monday morning to sell their items were denied sale inside the market.
A vegetable vendor Francisco Dias said he and other vendors have been told to get their stock out of the PDA market and sell outside, saying the PDA market will not open before May 24. “We had made an appeal to the authorities to at least allow us to sell our stock, but in vain,” he said, adding that vegetables and fruits were being sold in the Gandhi market,” he said.
