MARGAO
Goa’s lone wholesale fish market will remain shut for the next two days as a matter of abundant caution, even as the market functioned as normal on day one of the lockdown.
Though the Order issued under Section 144 of the CrPC has exempted operation of the fish and other markets, SGPDA Chairman, MLA Wilfred D’Sa on Friday asked the PDA Member Secretary Vertika Dagur to order the closure of the market on Saturday and Sunday as a precautionary measure.
Accordingly, message has gone to the PDA wholesale fish market sopo contractor as well as the president of the Margao Wholesale Fish market Association that the market will remain shut during the next two days.
The SGPDA Chairman told The Goan that he has decided to keep the wholesale fish market closed for the next two days during the lockdown as a precautionary measure. “By the very nature of the wholesale fish activity, it is very difficult to maintain social distancing norms. More ever, Covid cases have been rising every day, and we do not want Covid to raise its ugly head in the wholesale fish market,” D’Sa added.
President of the Margao Wholesale Fish Market Association, M Ibrahim said the fish traders were in receipt of the message from the SGPDA on Friday evening. “Though the message has come a bit late given that fish vehicles had either come to the city or were on the way to the State, the traders will somehow adjust with the fish that has come to the State,” Ibrahim said.
Sources said a number of fish transporting vehicles had entered the wholesale fish market on Friday morning, given that the lockdown is not applicable for essential food items such as fish. However, the vehicles that entered the wholesale market were considerably less in number, sources added.
