MAPUSA
Amid some anxious moments, the two-hour protest of Mapusa Merchants Association (MMA) in the municipal market passed off peacefully on Friday, but the agitated shopkeepers vowed to come back and evict the illegal migrant vendors until the civic body implements the Street Vendors Protection Act
and constitutes the town vending committee (TVC) for Mapusa town.
“We are ready to take law into our hands until the civic body constitutes the TVC and implements the Street Vendors Protection Act. We will maintain our drive to evict illegal migrant vendors from the market. We may repeat the exercise this Sunday…,” said Ashish Shirodkar, MMA President.
“We have displayed our unity by keeping all our shops closed for two hours. We will not stop at this. If in eight days no action is taken on setting up of the TVC for Mapusa, we will repeat our action with double the vengeance,” he added.
Almost 90 percent of the shopkeepers downed their shutters for two hours in solidarity with the Mapusa merchants against the migrant vendors occupying illegal space in the municipal market.
At least 100 odd shopkeepers led by MMA’s Shirodkar, Naresh Tivrekar, Asis Cordozo, Pandurang Sawant and Geetesh Dangui assembled at the entrance of the municipal market at around 9 am and later marched through the market urging “illegal” vendors to remove their goods.
The shopkeepers received support from various other groups and social organizations in town.
Except for a couple of instances when the agitated shopkeepers ripped off parcels belonging to the migrant vendors and threatened them to move out, much of the two-hour drive passed off peacefully.
Many of the migrant vendors along the J K Wines lane did not open their counters fearing that their goods would be confiscated.
The MMA chief said that if the civic body tries vindictive tricks against its members then the entire community will come out in one force. “If the Mapusa council tries to take action against any of our members, we will not stay quiet, but come out with full force,” Shirodkar warned.
Although the shopkeepers expressed their ire against migrant vendors, they ignored improprieties carried out by local vendors.
Targeting the council and the city fathers for pandering to migrant vendors, members of the MMA said that the vendors were encouraged by the councillors. “The MMC has no plan to put things in order in the municipal market. We have 20 councillors but none have the courage to speak up against the mess created by the migrant vendors,” said Naresh Tivrekar, Vice-President of MMA.
