the goan I network
MARGAO
A plastic free Old Market fair on the lines of Old Goa feast fair was what was initiated by the Margao Municipal Council in December last, earning accolades from citizens and vendors alike.
Five months later, the concept of a plastic free fair seemed to have lost its appeal as evident by the just concluded 10-day Holy Spirit feast fair, where neither plastic free banners were put around nor any Margao Municipal Council official went around to crack a whip against erring vendors for using plastic bags.
The result is there for all to see. Tones of plastic waste has been left behind on the SGPDA ground, which played host to the 10-day Holy Spirit feast fair, only indicating that plastic was freely used despite the fact that the MMC had initiated a drive against use of plastic bags below 50 micron size.
When The Goan asked the sanitary section to shed light on the plastic menace at the SGPDA ground, officials pointed out the issue falls within the domain of the market inspectors, who were drafted to crack a whip against the erring vendors at the last fair held in December last. Market inspectors, however, were candid in admitting that the civic body did not implement the plastic free fair concept at the Holy Spirit feast fair since they were preoccupied with the allotment of stalls at the fair. “We have no idea whether the civic body had cracked a whip against vendors and hawkers selling plastic at the 10-day feast fair,” admitted a market inspector.
Last time round, the allotment of stalls at the feast fair was entrusted to the private contractor, who was also told to bring awareness amongst the vendors and hawkers to stop using plastic bags at the fair. This time, however, the allotment of stalls was undertaken departmentally by the civic body and in the bargain, even as the civic babus and the City Fathers seemed to have completely forgotten to implement the anti-plastic drive in the just concluded fair.
Sources in the know said that trucks load of plastic has been left at the SGPDA after the 10-day fair and the MMC sanitary section has requisitioned the services of all the sanitary workers, including daily wage workers to clear the plastic and litter from the PDA ground.
By Tuesday evening, around seven truck load of plastic waste was lifted from the PDA grounds and if sources in the MMC are to be believed, another 6-7 trucks load of waste was still lying on the ground.
