the goan I network
PANAJI
Electricity to the Panaji Municipal Market was restored on Wednesday evening after the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) brought in a generator that lit up the market which was in darkness since Tuesday evening, Mayor Uday Madkaikar told The Goan.
“The Chief Minister had earlier intervened and directed the Power Department to restore electricity to the market, but as it was a public holiday, Power Department staff were not working. So the CCP arranged the generator, and power was restored to the market at around 6 in the evening,” Madkaikar said.
Meanwhile, Power Minister Nilesh Cabral told The Goan that the stakeholders would be holding a meeting with him on Thursday (today), and had already agreed to pay around Rs 1.5 crore towards the pending power dues of the market.
“They’ve already agreed to pay around a crore and half immediately, but at tomorrow’s meeting, we will discuss about the balance amount to be paid. We usually allow those who can’t pay, to pay in installments. So we will be following the same procedure with them,” Cabral said.
The electricity department had on Tuesday disconnected power supply to open passage of the Panaji Market on account of it not receiving power bill arrears to the tune of of Rs 5.80 crore generated in the name of Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation (GSIDC). However, the ultimate sufferers as a result of the action by electricity department are the local small vendors who make a livelihood by selling their merchandise daily in the market.
The bills not paid since June 2003 works out to around a whopping Rs 5.80 crore. The electricity department after issuing the last bill on Tuesday disconnected the connection to the market passage.
