CUNCOLIM: The Cuncolim Civic and Consumer Forum (CCCF) on Friday took proactive steps to protect the consumers from an illegal nursery selling flowering plants along the National Highway 17 by registering a formal complaint with the authorities.
After getting repeated complaints from consumers that the nursery was selling plants in the wards of Cuncolim, CCCF volunteers caught a handcart in Sanvarcotto ward being pushed by a labourer from Bihar.
On being questioned he said the owner was one Feku Rai from Bihar and he had no licence from the Agriculture Department nor a trade licence from the Cuncolim Municipal Council.
The CCCF volunteers called the Cuncolim police station who sent their staff to escort the labourer and the handcart to the police station, after which a police complaint was filed.
The Director of Agriculture Nelson Figueiredo was then contacted, who deputed Agriculture Officer from the Zonal Agriculture Office, Salcete Kaviraj Gaonkar to take action under the Goa Fruit (and Ornamental) Plant Nurseries (Regulation) Act 1995.
It may be noted in September 2016, GOACAN had petitioned the North Goa Collector to convene a meeting to discuss the functioning of non- registered nurseries which were selling both fruit-bearing and flower-bearing plants. These illegal nurseries posed a problem to consumers who inadvertently purchased diseased plants, fake seedlings, fake fertilizers etc.
The grievances of the consumers were discussed threadbare in a meeting held on December 12, 2016, wherein officials of Agriculture Department and ICAR were present, along with representatives of the Goa Nurserymen’s Association and Botanical Society of Goa.
Subsequently the matter was also discussed in the meetings of the District Consumer Protection Council, after which the then Director of Agriculture Department Ulhas Pai Kakode issued a note dated December 13, 2016 to all Zonal Agricultural Officers to take action against non-registered nurseries and those violating the guidelines as listed in the Goa Fruit (and Ornamental) Plant Nurseries (Regulation) Act 1995, by selling plants using handcarts.
It is significant to note that although the handcart belonged to a nursery that had no licence from the Agriculture Department nor a trade licence from Cuncolim Municipal Council, the nursery owner produced receipts of payment of Rs 75 as daily sopo to the CMC as market fee, which he claimed was his licence to operate in Cuncolim.
Moreover, the Agriculture Officer who visited the nursery on Friday said he had earlier filed a report of the illegality and a show-cause notice was also issued to the nursery owner, as he awaited action from the higher-ups in the department.
