Govt fails to maintain market; Shoppers forced to wade through dirty water craters
the goan I network
MARGAO
This was the common refrain in Goa’s lone wholesale fish market on Saturday as the entire market virtually turned into a cesspool with fishermen and shoppers complaining of absence of upkeep and maintenance by the South Goa Planning and Development Authority (SGPDA).
The craters were stinking with stagnant waters while the tar has completely disappeared from the market complex. A shopper from Nuvem commented that the pathetic condition would not have arisen had Mauvin, Digambar or Vijai were regular shoppers in the wholesale market. “These elected representatives take decisions by sitting in air-conditioned cabins. They should come out and walk the talk and see the hardships faced by the fishermen and the shoppers,” remarked a wholesale agent.
In fact, while many a fishermen were seen seated on makeshift fish boxes and makeshift bamboo baskets, shoppers had to wade through the muck as the situation worsened with the intermittent showers over the last two days.
Both Fishermen and shoppers also demanded to know the status of the promise made by Fisheries Minister Avertano Furtado in his Independence Day speech, to build an ultra modern wholesale fish market.
In fact, wholesale fish merchants recalled that the ruling government has miserably failed to give the much-needed face lift to the wholesale fish market. “After Manohar Parrikar had taken charge as Chief Minister in his second stint, he had promised a budgetary allocation of Rs 2 crore to bring a turn around in the wholesale fish market. The tenure of the BJP-led government is nearing end, but the promises are yet to see the light of day,” recalled
a fishermen.
Local resident, Savio Dias says, “Successive governments have only paid lip service to the wholesale fish market when it is a fact that people from across the State come to Margao, to procure fish.”
The district administration, functioning from the South Goa Collectorate building, has also turned a blind eye to the stinking environment, though the foul odour emanating from the wholesale fish market can be felt right at the Collectorate as well.
