Members of the panel constituted by the South Goa district Collector on September 4 last, finally conducted an inspection of the wholesale fish market. Santosh Mirajkar
MARGAO
Finally, members of the South Goa district Collector constituted 15-member committee descended on the SGPDA Wholesale fish market on Thursday around a fortnight and half after the Collector had set up the panel to examine issues plaguing the SGPDA markets.
However, the inspection has raised questions over the committee’s priorities, particularly when the condition of the SGPDA retail market continues to deteriorate by the day on the solid waste management front. As officials representing various government agencies went about inspecting the wholesale fish market, the obvious question was why the panel chose to inspect the facility when the worsening waste management situation at the retail market calls for urgent attention.
The inspection has also brought into focus a larger question: will the government agencies accord priority to solid waste management in both markets, particularly the retail market, over the other issues plaguing the facilities?
Visitors to the two markets maintain that issues relating to solid waste collection and disposal, cleanliness and sanitation deserve priority attention over other concerns, including delays in commissioning the wholesale fish market, electricity-related problems and traffic management.
South Goa district Collector Egna Cleetus had constituted the 15-member panel on September 4 at the height of the sanitation and garbage crisis plaguing the PDA retail market, to examine is sues affecting the two markets and submit a report against the backdrop of the worsening solid waste management situation at the SGPDA retail market. Significantly, a close look at the committee’s terms of reference reveals that the Collector had directed the panel to immediately report to her office and the competent authority any condition posing an imminent threat to public health or safety, so that urgent preventive or remedial action could be initiated without waiting for the final report. This provision raises a pertinent question: Has the committee submitted any report to the Collector on the sanitation and hygiene conditions prevailing in the two markets so far? Or has the panel found the situation at the retail market satisfactory, despite mounting concerns over waste management and cleanliness in the retail market?
