MARGAO
After an uproar raised by agitated boat owners, the Fatorda police have warned the Margao municipal-appointed sopo contractor to stop collecting parking fees from fish or other vehicles parked alongside the PWD road outside the wholesale fish market.
In fact, the Fatorda police have arrested the two persons involved in the assault on the boat owner Stanley Fernandes and produced them before the Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Margao. The sopo contactor was also called by the police after the Margao Municipal Chief Officer Agnelo Fernandes clarified that the civic body has till date not notified any area in the commercial capital for pay parking.
Even as sopo payment slips for vehicular parking are doing the rounds on the social media, indicating that the sopo contractor was charging parking fees on vehicles, Fatorda police station in-charge, PI Kapil Nayak said the contractor has been warned of action under the law.
“I have made it categorically clear to the MMC-appointed sopo contractor to stop the illegal activity since the MMC has made it clear that no area is notified as pay parking in the city,” PI Kapil said.
He added: “The Fatorda police would invoke relevant provisions of the IPC against the sopo contractor if any complaint is received for levying parking fees on vehicles parked along the wholesale fish market road.”
Incidentally, while the MMC has been quick to clarify that the wholesale fish market road has not been notified as pay parking zone, the civic body is yet to crack a whip in a big way against the hundreds of vendors along the road.
In fact, questions are being raised how the vendors occupy the entire road if the MMC has not allowed any vending on the entire wholesale fish market road.
Interestingly, during Chief Minister Pramod Sawant’s visit to the wholesale fish market over a year ago, he had categorically directed then Margao Municipal Chief Officer Ajit Panchwadkar to keep the wholesale fish market road vendors-free. A year down the line, vendors swarm along the road right under the nose of the Margao Municipal market inspectors and the men-in-uniform.
