the goan I network
MARGAO
The Margao Municipal Council on Tuesday rushed in with a proposal to demarcate vending zones in the commercial capital, but a moot question remained unanswered “ whether the civic body had obtained suggestions and objections from residents of the localities where the zones are proposed to be set up.
Questions have also been raised as to who are the vendors or hawkers who will be allowed to carry out business in the vending zones, whether the list was prepared independently by the municipal administration or okayed with inputs from the city fathers.
While proposing demarcation of vending zones around the city, around seven spots were cleared by the council on Tuesday, including the KTC parking lot (Ward No 1), on landing belong to PWD, behind KTC bus stand as demarcated in the ODP 2028 (Ward No 2), at road adjacent to Surpa Palace hotel leading to Chandrawado (Ward No 4), near Keni Restaurant (Ward No 5), abutting Western bypass at road leading to house of Sushila Naik (Ward Nos 6&7), existing satellite market in Vidyanagar (Ward No 8) and on the road leading to Pajifond from Hospicio hospital, behind Holy Spirit Cemetery in Ward No 11.
Incidentally, the proposals cleared at the council meeting proposed by councillor Lyndon Pereira, all fall in the Fatorda area of the city, but it’s still unclear whether the civic body had conducted the mandatory exercise of inviting objections and suggestions from the residents of the concerned localities before finalising the sites.
While moving the proposal, Lyndon asked the council to sanction a grant of Rs two crore to finalise and develop the vending zones. “The vending zones will help regulate all such gaddas with prior approval of the municipality. These gaddas should not be allowed to be stationed at the zones, but would have to be taken back home by the hawkers at night after business hours,” Lyndon said.
MMC Chairperson Babita Prabhudesai explained that the vending zones will not only bring the vending activities at one point, but also includes standardisation
of a particular model for the gaddas.
Meanwhile, the council witnessed heated discussion over the proposal to pay a fixed sum of payment to the municipal lawyer. Some of the councillors led by Keta Kurtarkar and others questioned the logic of paying a fixed amount when previous municipal retainers had put up a good job for the civic body.
Heated arguments ensued between Ketan and MMC CO Sidhivinayak Naik as the discussions turned personal, with Chairperson Babita intervening to put an end to the debate. After much discussions, the council decided to pay a monthly honorarium of Rs 35,000 to the lawyer, besides an amount of Rs 5000 as travelling expenses.
