MARGAO
Ahead of the High Court hearing scheduled on Wednesday on the burning waste issue plaguing the wholesale fish market road, one could finally see workers on the job to collect thermocol waste in the SGPDA mega retail fish market and along the wholesale fish market road on Tuesday.
With the SGPDA Member Secretary Sheikh Ali and Margao Municipal Chief Officer Gaurish Sankhwalkar asked to appear before the High Court on Wednesday, this is perhaps the first time in recent times that workers were on the ground to collect thermocol waste strewn along the wholesale fish market road and in the SGPDA retail market.
Inquiries by The Goan have only revealed that the workers were deployed by the Margao Municipal Council for collection of the thermocol waste. At the end of day one of the operation, around 3-4 truck loads of thermocol waste was lifted away by the Margao Municipal workers, but the moot question remains unanswered “ why were the Margao Municipal Council and the SGPDA involved in a blame game over the months, when the unhygienic conditions posed nuisance and health hazard to the visitors to the two mega markets?
While the High Court directions issued on Monday, summoning the officials to appear before the Court on Wednesday, seemed to have spurred the Margao civic body to deploy its army of workers to lift away the thermocol waste, the same old question may come back to haunt the two authorities, whether they will get down to the job of maintaining the public places clean and hygienic only when the situation comes under the High Court scanner?
Otherwise, consider this: On July 25 last, the Margao Municipal Council had imposed a penalty amounting to Rs 50,000 on the SGPDA for disposing of unsegregated waste in the adjoining fields in the PDA retail fish market.
That’s not all. The next day, the MMC issued another notice to the SGPDA, this time to show cause why the Planning body should not be penalized for the thermocol waste strewn along the wholesale fish market road, and which has also found its way on the banks of river Sal.
The MMC had issued the show causes on the SGPDA over the state of affairs in the two SGPDA markets, the wholesale fish market and the retail fish market, after the markets had come under the scanner of the High Court.
Sadly, the ground reality did not change for the better over the last one month and a fortnight despite the waste problem coming under the High Court lens, throwing up the question whether the MMC workers have finally descended on the wholesale fish market and the retail fish market after the High Court asked officials of the Planning body and the Margao Municipal Council to appear before the Court on Wednesday.
