Defiant fruit vendors overnight shift to original place in Mapusa market
MAPUSA
Six months after having been shifted to a new area in the Mapusa market, defiant fruit vendors overnight reverted and occupied their original places near the Shakuntala statue in the Mapusa Municipal market on Thursday night.
But early Friday morning, Mapusa Municipal Council (MMC), Chairperson, Sandip Falari and most of the councillors ensured they don’t succeed in their plan and ensured that they went back to the area that was demarcated to them by the council six months back.
The council had passed a resolution and accordingly shifted all the fruit vendors sitting near the Shakuntala statue to a new area along the street opposite the Mapusa Bazaar in April this year.
Upset over the defiance of the fruit vendors, some councillors along with the MMC chairperson and the municipal staff went to the site in the market and ordered the fruit vendors to revert to the place they were shifted to.
A police force was also present at the scene to avoid any law and order problem.
The fruit vendors had little choice but to hastily beat a retreat and revert to the new place. Within two hours all the fruit vendors cleared the area and shifted to the street opposite the Mapusa Bazaar.
Sources disclosed that there was a flurry of activity late last night and the fruit vendors shifted back to their original place near the Shakuntala statue in the municipal market in the night.
The fruit vendors were apparently misguided by some vested leaders and shopkeepers, sources further disclosed.
“Some fruit vendors had come to the municipal council on Wednesday and in the presence of Deputy Chief Minister and local MLA, Francis D’Souza expressed their views that they wanted to shift back to the original place. We had made it very clear to them that this cannot be done and they will have to stay put in the new space allotted to them,” Falari told The Goan.
The chairperson informed that the fruit vendors forcibly moved in to the original place late last night despite having made the stand of the municipal clear to them.
It may be recalled that an area of 2.5 x 2.5 sq mt was demarcated along the street opposite the Mapusa Bazaar in the market and the fruit vendors from around the Shakuntala statue were shifted and made to sit in the new place in mid-April this year.
BOX 1
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Were the vendors instigated?
THE GOAN NETWORK
MAPUSA: There are enough reasons to believe that the fruit vendors had the backing of some “leaders” to shift them back to their original place.
On Wednesday, the vendors were led by one Dilip Naik from Gaunsa-vaddo who appealed to the deputy chief minister to bring back the vendors to their original place near the Shakuntala statue.
Sources said some shopkeepers in the area were also in favour of bringing the fruit vendors back to their original place.
The shopkeepers apparently wanted the vendors back, as the movement of consumers dropped and affected their business after the fruit vendors were shifted to the new place.
The fruit vendors were also backed by a former chairperson and senior councillor, sources said.
Both Dilip Naik and the former chairperson have a sway over the vendors in the market, sources further said.
BOX 2
Did Dy CM’s ambiguous stand encourage the vendors?
THE GOAN NETWORK
MAPUSA: Did Deputy Chief Minister and local MLA Francis D’Souza’s ambiguous decision encourage the fruit vendors to revert to their original place in the Mapusa market late Thursday night?
Sources in the council informed that the meeting between the fruit vendors and the deputy chief minister in the chairperson’s cabin on Wednesday evening remained inconclusive.
The deputy chief minister and the local MLA gave a patient hearing to the fruit vendors but failed to convey a firm message to them, sources disclosed.
“In fact, the deputy chief minister was caught between the councillors who were firm on the shifting of the vendors to the new site and the vendors who wanted to come back to the original place,” a source said.
“The fruit vendors are voters of Mapusa and the local MLA probably did not want to hurt them with an eye on the approaching elections,” the source added.
