MARGAO
Curtains had officially come down on the eight days Purumentachem feast fair at the Old Market, Margao, but the hustle and bustle refused to end at the fair, both on the SGDPA ground and the Margao Municipal parking lot.Both the Margao Municipal Council and the SGPDA had charged the hawkers and vendors fees only for the eight-day fair, throwing up questions about whether the MMC and the PDA will charge additional fees for continuing the business on Monday. If the ground reality is any indication, the fair isn’t going to end on Tuesday as well since most of the stalls are still in place at the MMC parking lot and the SGPDA ground.
Monday saw a group of hawkers calling on the Margao Municipal Chief Officer Rohit Kadam with a plea to allow the fair to continue for two more days in view of the intervening rains. They are believed to have further claimed that around 50 hawkers, who had set up stalls, have wound up the business in the view of the rains.
The Chief Officer, however, has reportedly told the delegation that the fair period of eight days has ended on Sunday and the hawkers should start dismantling the stalls immediately.
A visit to the fair, however, revealed that the hustle and bustle at the Purumentachem fair continue unabated. Contrary to claims that the hawkers have started dismantling the stalls, the ground reality was different, with hawkers making brisk business as usual.
The Chief Officer told The Goan that he has asked the Municipal inspectors to inspect the fair and issue clear directions to the hawkers to immediately start dismantling the stalls.
