The 40-year-old Pernem fish market structure is structurally unstable and may collapse at any point of time. The fish market is the main market in Pernem located in heart of the taluka and caters to people residing in the municipal jurisdiction and also of those in the surrounding villages.
When the stock of the local vendors sitting in villages gets over, the Pernem fish market is the only option for people to buy their daily fish.
Along with Goan vendors, vendors from Maharashtra and nearby villages come to this marker to sell fish. Since it is the main market in Pernem, there is a wider variety of fish on sale.
But an absence of basic infrastructure like a cold storage for vendors to keep their remaining stock and a store room for the utensils is making it difficult for the fish sellers to ply their trade. There is also no proper sitting arrangement for fish sellers to sit and sell fish.
The fish and vegetable sellers conduct their business under the same roof. On one side you find the fish sellers and the other side are the vegetable sellers. With no proper seating arrangements, there is a small platform on which nearly eight to ten vendors sit but the remaining 30 odd fish mongers sit on the floor and sell fish.
There is also no barricade for the market building due to which stray dogs and cattle directly enter the building. With the start of monsoon, the major problem faced by fish sellers is rain water accumulation. Rain water from the roads directly enters the market and accumulates inside thus creating a small pond of water in the seating area. Since the water cannot flow out it just keeps accumulating.
Vendors said that every morning after a heavy shower of rain during the night they have to throw out almost 15 to 20 buckets of water to walk into the marker and be able to carry out their business. Vendors also said that sometimes the accumulated water is so much that they have sit in the water to sell fish.
Vendors also said that because of this many customers don’t come to market to buy fish and even if they did, they would not enter due to the mess. In the past people having fallen in the fish market and suffered major injuries.
Vendors said that whenever they contacted the municipality and even the sopo collector with their grievances, they have been ignored. When the sopo collector comes to collect the fee and is informed of the problem, he promises to get it remedied the same day or the next but nothing happens.
Other problem the vendors experience is the poor condition of the roof, floor and the building structure. The tiles on the roof are broken and several have fallen. The floor has many holes.
Sources revealed that the municipality has not kept track of the sanitation levels in the market. The unsanitary conditions have attracted insects who have made their home in the market. Since there is no place allocated to throw the waste, fish sellers dispose the water in the same location adding to the filth.
Sources said the municipality has not cleared the market using any pest control measures or bleaching the floor which is resulting in a major health hazard. Vendors and locals allege the municipality has neglected the fish market for the last five years
When contacted Chairperson of Pernem Municipal Council Usha Nagvekar said, “We have already spoken to our MLA Babu Azgaonkar and he has shown his support for the new market building. The MLA has assured us that he will give financial and other necessary help for this project. With regards to water logging, PWD is already directed to clear the water logging chambers so that water does not get accumulated in the market.”
