VASCO
The Mormugao Municipal Council led by Chairperson Leo Rodrigues carried out a surprise raid on the food serving stalls outside the Vasco railway station.
Rodrigues was joined by market committee president councillor Vinod Kinlekar and councillor Narayan Borkar.
The municipal staff including market inspectors, supervisors and workers were present even as municipal vehicles began confiscating goods and clearing encroachment by the stalls.
Chairperson Rodrigues, speaking to reporters, sent a strong warning to all establishments to pay all dues and maintain hygiene or face action.
"These stalls serve food outside the railway station but are in a very unhygienic condition. Many of the stalls have not paid their dues despite several warnings over the last few months nor are they maintaining cleanliness, besides encroaching on footpaths. These stalls are supposed to come here in the morning and go back in the evening, but they have become permanent. Secondly, they have begun operating on roadsides and put tables and chairs on footpaths, thus creating major encroachment," said Rodrigues.
"We have received a letter from the Foods and Drugs Administration (FDA) to act on these stalls for lack of hygiene because they had carried out checks here and found many issues. We have now cleared the chairs and goods and seized some handcarts that have not paid dues and will not release them till the payment is cleared. We are not against any business but business owners must pay their dues even if it is via instalment or one-time settlement in case the pending amount is huge," said Rodrigues.
Councillor Vinod Kinlekar said that the municipality would support business activities as long as licences are renewed and dues are paid.
"Food serving stalls must have cleanliness or people could fall sick. The FDA has written to the municipality to act on stalls that don't maintain hygiene. We want to instil discipline in our market and send a message that we will not tolerate irregularities. We have issued a warning to other stalls to pay dues or face action. In case the stalls have issues, they can meet us and we will help them with their trade licence or process to pay their outstanding dues. The municipality is willing to cooperate with everyone as long as they are cooperating with us," said Kinlekar.
Councillor Narayan Borkar said that the municipality drive was a welcome step.
"We have to support the chairperson because such drives are necessary. These stalls have LPG cylinders, but no firefighting equipment and this is dangerous for visitors. I had continuously pointed out to the chairperson that these stalls are not unhygienic, and action has to be taken. These drives should continue against violators and encroachers," said Borkar.
