the goan I network
MARGAO
Will the South Goa Planning and Development Authority (SGPDA) look beyond just “formalin” and ensure that fish loving Goans get fresh, safe and quality fish at Goa’s lone wholesale fish market at Margao?
Both SGPDA Chairperson Dr Renuka Da Silva and Member Secretary Ashok Kumar have gone on record saying that the wholesale fish market cannot be a place for parking of the fish importing trucks, both Goa registered vehicles and outstation vehicles. This reassurance assumed significance and comes against the backdrop of reports that vehicles importing fish from across the borders are parked inside the wholesale fish market to store the unsold fish in the market.
Sources say that the unsold fish which is stored in the fish vehicles are then offered for sale the following day, without undergoing any checks whether the fish available for sale is stale or fresh.
Says PDA Member Secretary Ashok Kumar: “At the PDA meeting, it was decided that the PDA has no objection to allow the assembly of people to conduct the fish business in the wholesale fish market. Accordingly, the PDA will give NOC for the fish traders to conduct the business, but on condition that they comply with the guidelines set by the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA).”
The PDA member secretary, however, said that the PDA will not allow any fish transporting vehicle to park inside the market. “The PDA is of the firm opinion that the wholesale fish market cannot be a parking lot for any vehicle. Let vehicles carrying fish from across the borders come into the market after complying with the FDA guidelines, but these vehicles will have to move out of the market after the business hours,” Ashok Kumar added.
Indications are that the wholesale traders may finally agree with the SGPDA condition on parking of vehicles in the market. The question that has come to the fore is whether there will be any fresh checks of these vehicles which will enter the market with the unsold fish the next day, to ascertain whether the fish is fresh or stale. And, whether the SGPDA will ask the FDA to check the fish entering the wholesale fish market on a day-to-day basis not only to ensure that formalin-free fish enters the market, but fresh and not stale fish is offered for sale in the market.
“Formalin is one thing. The PDA should go beyond formalin for the simple reason that the PDA should ask the FDA to set up a mechanism that only fresh fish and not stale fish is offered for sale in the wholesale
fish market,” remarked a PDA official.
