the goan I network
MARGAO
The Margao Municipal Council witnessed an uproar after Gandhi market vendors squatted on the corridor of the building after being denied an audience with the Chief Officer Johnson Fernandes.
Led by Gandhi Market Vegetable, Readymade & Cloth Vendors Association president Rajendra Azgaonkar, the vendors had gone to the Municipality to hand over a memorandum to the Chief Officer demanding the putting up of a shed to protect and safeguard vegetable product after the Council had removed the plastic sheets on grounds that they do not conform to the fire safety provisions. To their surprise, the Chief Officer insisted that the vendors can only meet him in a delegation of 4-5 persons, a condition which found no takers with the vendors. As the deadlock persisted, the Chief Officer left his cabin and sat in the chamber of the Chairperson, refusing to meet all the vendors.
Protesting over Johnson’s refusal to meet all of them, the vendors squatted in the building corridor outside the Chairperson’s chamber, prompting Chairperson Babita Prahudesai to rush to the civic body to resolve the row.
Azgaonkar later explained to the Chairperson in the presence of the Chief Officer that the previous Council had already taken a decision to permit the construction of a shed at the Gandhi market and demanded that the Council issue the necessary permission. He pointed out that the vendors are facing hardships in the absence of the shed, more so after the municipality removed the plastic sheets erected by the vendors. Azgaonkar further stated that the authorities should not single out the Gandhi market and turn a blind eye to the illegalities and encroachments in other markets.
After giving the vendors a patient hearing, the Chairperson made it point blank clear that the Municipality is supreme when it comes to the Municipal markets, including the Gandhi market and that the civic body has to take into account fire safety norms before taking any decision. While defending Chief Officer Johnson Fernandes for his decision not to entertain the vendors, she, however, interestingly told the vendors that the Council and the Gandhi market vendors can enter into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) or that the vendors swear an affidavit stating that the Municipality will not be liable in the event of any fire incident in the market.
When the media later confronted the Municipal chairperson whether the Council is empowered to waive the mandatory fire safety provisions, she evaded a reply, but hastened to add that the Council will seek the advice of experts before taking a call. “The Council will invite the fire services officials for inspection of the Gandhi market before issuing the permission. I did not mean that the Municipality would waive the fire safety norms,” she said.
