MAPUSA
Are the vegetables available in the famed Mapusa market safe for consumption?
If a video gone viral indicating coriander leaves being washed in flowing gutter water in Mapusa market is to be believed, it’s not only unsafe but dangerous too.
Although The Goan couldn’t confirm the source of the video, the 1.14 minute clip clearly shows the place as Mapusa market and the video as a recent one.
In the video, a migrant is shown carrying a basket full of coriander leaves apparently washed in the flowing gutter water to the new vegetable market to be sold to the public.
In another video, the man who shoots the clip questions the migrant worker about his transgression and under a threat of complaining to the police makes him to chuck out the consignment.
“This incident clearly shows that the health department’s sanitary inspectors are not up to their job. Secondly, the Mapusa Municipal Council has failed to close the gutters allowing unscrupulous elements to indulge in such acts,” said Adv Mahesh Rane, a resident of Khorlim-Mapusa.
The video has also thrown the debate open on the cleanliness and sanitary condition of the Mapusa market. “Who knows? The fish vendors may also be using the same water from the gutter to sprinkle on the fish,” said Kishore Palni, a local from Tivim.
Many have blamed the migrant vendors for indulging in such misdemeanors, giving the benefit of doubt to local vendors. Mapusa Municipal Council Chairperson Rohan Kavlekar who saw the video has reasons to believe that the video could be false and the only reason to do it was to blame the authorities.
“Even if it the video is true, we will take steps so that such things do not repeat in future. We are going to take steps to outsource cleanliness in Mapusa market,” Kavlekar said.
Whatever the outcome, the video clearly shows the dark side of the Mapusa market with the unsuspecting
consumers clearly at the receiving end.
