THE GOAN NETWORK
PANAJI:
Issues it is dealing with in vacating commercial tenants is bogging down the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) in executing at least two of its major projects -- the CCP headquarters project and the phase III of the market to replace the existing fish and meat market.
Work on the construction of the CCP's new administrative building has still not begun as the Corporation is struggling to get the lessees currently occupying it to vacate.
The project to construct a new 4-storey building is being executed by the Goa State Urban Development Agency (GSUDA) the work order for which is already issued more than five months ago. It is planned on the entire 14,700-odd square meters but the older, Portuguese-built Praca do Commercio has several commercial establishments operating such as Cafe Aram, Farmacia Salcete and getting them to vacate is turning out to be a complex proposition.
Quasi-judicial proceedings for these tenants of the Praca do Commercio are being handled by the CCP's Estate Officer Victoria Gonsalves.
Additionally, the State government is yet to finalise an alternative premises for the CCP administration to shift although two sites are being considered: Old Commercial Taxes building along MG Road and the renovated heritage building formerly occupied by the PWD and WRD near the old Patto bridge.
The second project where the CCP is facing resistance from the current occupants is the old fish and meat market. The top floors of this building were sealed last week but the officials backed off from force-evicting the tenants on the ground floor who are mostly meat and poultry traders.
The CCP plans to commence construction of phase III of the market by demolishing this building to house the fish and meat vendors, detailed plans for which were drawn in April last year.
The timeline in it required the old building to be demolished in January this year but eight months beyond that deadline the CCP is still struggling to get the meat and poultry traders occupying shops there to vacate.
Architectural blunder
If and when the old fish and meat market building is actually demolished, the CCP will be erasing its own unpleasant legacy. The building built in the Panjim Municipal Council era when the late Francisco Branco (Bashick) dominated the civic body, was found to have no staircase during the pre-inauguration inspection. The comical architectural blunder is why the building has an external staircase.
