MARGAO
A plea by Purumentachem Fest fair hawkers to extend the fair by a couple of days was turned down by Margao Municipal Chief Officer, Gaurish Sankhwalkar citing the High Court order restricting the fair to seven days.
The Chief Officer, however, has a task at hand - how to stop the hawkers from extending the fair illegally by 3-4 days as had been the case in the recent past?
Pose the question to Sankhwalkar, who is proceeding on leave from Monday, and the Chief Officer comes with a reply saying he has constituted a team headed by the Margao Municipal Engineer and comprising municipal workers to deal with the situation at hand.
He pointed out that his office has written a letter to the Goa Police to provide police protection to the municipal team to stop the illegal conduct of the fair from Sunday. Sankhwalkar further said he has written a letter to the Power department to disconnect the electricity supply to the fair from Sunday.
With curtains coming down on the seven-day fair on Saturday, questions are doing the rounds in the corridors of the Margao Municipal building and outside whether the MMC will implement the High Court order in both letter and spirit and stop the fair on Sunday morning or risk hauled up by the High Court for contempt.
Locals of Madel and the petitioner in the PIL petition in the High Court have already sounded a warning to the Margao Municipality to implement the High Court order in both letter and spirit or face contempt of court. In fact, the residents have resolved to video film the old market fair area on Sunday to prepare the ground for the contempt of court petition in the High Court.
In the recent past, though the MMC had charged the stalls for a period of seven days as per the High Court order, the hawkers used to continue business at the fair for 3-4 days right under the eyes of the municipal officials and workers on the guise it takes time to wind up the business and dismantle the stalls. Sources in the know pointed out that the MMC had hardly benefited in terms of revenue from the extra days of the fair, indicating that unscrupulous elements made hay in collusion with the very authority responsible for stopping the fair beyond seven days.
