MARGAO
After turning a blind eye to the presence of gaddas near the Comba railway crossing, resulting in traffic congestion, the Margao Municipal Council (MMC) on Thursday cracked down by lifting away benches put up by a juice centre at the site.
Questions, however, remain unanswered as to whether the MMC is serious about clearing the gaddas, including the juice centre, horticulture stall, and a fast food gadda from the area, or whether Thursday’s operation was merely an eyewash in response to mounting public criticism for ignoring the gaddas in the road-widening areas.
In fact, the presence of senior Margao Municipal officials at the Comba railway crossing, led by Chief Officer Melvyn Vaz, Municipal Engineer Deepak Desai, Assistant Engineer Lawande, and Junior Engineer Rajesh Desai, along with a team of market inspectors, raised many eyebrows in municipal circles and beyond.
The reason for this scrutiny is the question of what prompted senior municipal officials to descend at the site to clear the two benches of the juice centre and issue warnings to the remaining gadda owners, when it is an open secret that the business has the patronage of those in power.
Further questions have been raised as to whether Thursday’s exercise is part of a plan to pave the entire area right up to the crossing, allowing these gaddas, including the horticulture shop, to conduct business in a more "decent" manner.
If sources are to be believed, the gadda owners have been told to clear the area in the next few days, apparently to make way for the development of the area with pavers.
However, questions remain unanswered as to whether the civic body can allow the gaddas to continue their business once the area is paved. The reason being that the PWD, Roads (Division) had issued notices over a year ago to remove the structures on the grounds that the land in question is part of a road-widening area belonging to the PWD.
