the goan I network
MARGAO
Angry Gandhi market vendors on Friday have threatened to lay a siege at the office of Margao Municipal Chief Officer later next month if their long-pending demands pertaining to basic amenities are not met by the civic body.
Friday saw the members of the Gandhi Market Readymade Garments and Vegetable Vendors Association led by President Rajendra Ajgaonkar gheraoing MMC Chief Officer Sidhivinayak Naik in his chamber over what they called as the Chief Officer’s failure to honour his promise to resolve their grievances. A large number of Gandhi market vendors joined the morcha as the vendors barged inside the CO’s chamber as a protest over his failure to fulfill his promises.
Rajendra Ajgaonkar and Ashraf Pandiyal drew attention of the Chief Officer to his promise to resolve their grievances around four months ago. He demanded to know whether the vendors should keep coming at the Municipality to seek resolution of their demands when the ground reality does not change for the better.
He pointed out that the absence of sanitation has hit hard the market vendors, so much so that even customers, who visit the market for shopping, had to undergo ordeal for want of toilets. Similarly, he said the civic body has failed to rein in the illegal vendors doing business alongside the roads across the city. Ajgaonkar demanded to know why the promised shed for the vendors have not seen the light of day till date, while pointing out that the roads leading to the market are indeed in a bad state.
“We have served a 15-day ultimatum on the Chief Officer to either resolve their genuine demands or face action. We have told the Chief Officer that next time round, the vendors will lay a siege in his chamber and will not move till their demands are met,” Ajgaonkar warned.
Chief Officer Sidhivinayak Naik promised the vendors that the civic body has already got the sewerage corporation to connect the Gandhi market sulabh toilet to the underground line, adding that the work should be hopefully complete by next week. He pointed out that things will move in the right direction in respect of the market shed, adding that the market inspectors will be directed to crack a whip on all illegal vendors in the city from next week.
