MARGAO
The inauguration of the redeveloped Margao wholesale fish market scheduled on April 30 has come a cropper.
Reason. If SGPDA Chairman, MLA Krishna Daji Salkar is to be believed, the wholesale fish market could not be inaugurated on Wednesday for the simple reason that the electrical panel and equipment could not fall in place to date.
He said the SGPDA had deposited an amount of Rs 12-13 lakh with the electricity department to execute the electrical work at the market.
He admitted that the SGPDA had decided at its meeting held last week to inaugurate the market on April 30, but the inauguration had to be postponed because of power issues. "The SGPDA is in no haste to inaugurate the market. Once the electrical issues are resolved, the market will be formally commissioned," he said.
Interestingly, the SGPDA was toying with the idea of inaugurating the wholesale fish market earlier this year, but in vain.
Officials of the Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation (GSIDC) told 'The Goan' that the redeveloped wholesale fish market is ready in all respects for the inauguration from their side. "The issue of installing the electrical panel and equipment rests with the SGPDA. The SGPDA has to deposit the amount with the power department and get the work done," the official added.
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Fisheries dept responsible for cold storage decision: GSIDC
MARGAO: Officials of the Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation have said it is the responsibility of the Fisheries Department to take a call on the question of setting up the proposed cold storage unit in the Margao wholesale fish market.
In fact, a senior GSIDC official reminded that the Corporation is just an executing agency of the work to redevelop the Margao wholesale fish market for the Fisheries Department.
The GSIDC official, however, hastened to add that the cold storage unit is the main component of the redevelopment of the Margao wholesale fish market. "We should not forget that the Central Government had sanctioned funds to undertake redevelopment of the wholesale fish market with cold storage as the main component. This implies that the Centre had sanctioned the funds to redevelop the wholesale fish market keeping in mind the interest of the local fishermen to provide them with cold storage facility for storage of fish and get a better rate for their catch", the official said.
Incidentally, the cold storage unit was supposed to come up in Block-A in the redeveloped wholesale fish market along with the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) fish testing laboratory.
"There are two questions which need to be answered by the Fisheries Department and the SGPDA. The Fisheries Department should take a call on whether it is in favour of the proposed cold storage unit. If the answer is positive, the SGPDA should hand over the balance land in the wholesale fish market to the GSIDC to execute the balance works including the cold storage unit," the GSIDC official added.
