TEAM HERALD
VASCO: Confusion over allotment and location of stalls at the Vasco Saptah took an ugly turn at Vasco on Monday, when one aggrieved woman vendor tried to end her life by attempting to consume rat poison, while another woman also fell ill after accidentally inhaling the poison. Both women were later rushed to the Chicalim Cottage Hospital.
According to some women vendors, the incident took place after a woman was allotted different to erect her garment stall.
“Since she could not locate the space allotted to her, the woman got frustrated and applied Ratol (poison) to a chapatti. She bit the poison-laced chapatti, but an alert woman snatched the chapatti from her hand and forced the woman to spit out the chapatti piece from her mouth,” a woman vendor told Herald.
“But as the alert woman snatched away the chapatti, it touched the nose of another woman who stood behind and she fainted after accidentally inhaling the poison,” the vendor added.
Incidentally, the Mormugao Municipal Council (MMC) had assured to keep an ambulance and fire tender standby to tackle any emergency at the Saptah. However, a 108 ambulance reached the spot after almost one hour.
In the meantime, anxious women vendors managed to bring the woman vendor who had fainted and the other woman, who had come in contact with the poison back to consciousness. They were shifted to the Chicalim Cottage Hospital, where their condition is reported to be stable.
Meanwhile, aggrieved vendors condemned the Mormugao Municipal Council’s decision to relocate the stalls and allot their traditional space to the new vendors.
“We have been allotted the same space for the last 30 years and we never faced any problem,” stated a press note issued by the traditional vendors.
Claiming that the new vendors are ready to compromise in the matter, the traditional vendors are hopeful that they would be allowed to occupy the traditional space during the present Saptah.
