MAPUSA
The Mapusa merchants on Wednesday met Mapusa Municipal Council Chief Officer Chandrakant Shetkar and requested for time to respond to eviction notices issued to several merchants in the municipal market.
The merchants also met the Urban Development Minister Vishwajit Rane who has assured to look into their issue sympathetically. “The CO had issued notices giving the merchants seven days to evict the shops. We have requested him to give us more time to reply to the notice which he has agreed,” said Assis Cardozo, VP of Mapusa Merchants Association (MMA).
A delegation of the MMA led by Cardozo and General Secretary Siddesh Raut called on the chief officer to place their views on the issue.
Cardozo informed that over 100 merchants were issued eviction notices for failing to renew the lease agreement with the municipality. “The civic body has failed to renew the lease agreements for more then seven years although the merchants had submitted the documents to them,” he said.
The MMA general secretary also informed that the merchants had submitted documents for renewal of the lease but the council had failed to renew the agreements from time to time. He said the MMA has also raised their grievances with the Urban Development Minister who has assured to resolve the problem at the government level.
It may be recalled on the directions of the HC the CO had issued show-cause notices to 309 original lease holders of shops/stalls in the Mapusa municipal market for violating the agreement with the council and illegally sub-leasing the property to third person.
