VASCO: The Mormugao Municipal Council (MMC) will make this year’s Saptah celebration a plastic-free affair. It will issue fines of up to Rs 500 to people using plastics in and around the Saptah venue.

The decision was taken at a stakeholders’ meeting in Janata Vachanalaya Hall, Vasco on Monday to ensure smooth and safe celebrations, which begin on August 20. MMC Chairperson Lavina D’Souza, Councillors Nitin Chopdekar, Shekhar Khadapkar and Manish Arolkar explained the plans for the Saptah fair and other decisions taken by the council in the last meeting, which included the decision to maintain hygiene.

A stakeholder at the meeting suggested the ban on plastic, and the MMC decided to strictly enforce it. To discourage people from using plastic, the fine was increased from Rs 100 to Rs 500. 

“As we are aiming for hygiene, we decided not to issue licenses to food stalls until they first get an NOC from the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA), and then an NOC from the Health Department. As the procedure is a little lengthy, we plan to start the process of allocating stalls from August 5 – a fortnight before the festival starts. We also decided that the Saptah fair will be open to the public for 10 days, while furniture stalls near MPT Institute will be allowed to conduct business for about 15 days,” informed MMC Chief Officer Melvyn Vaz.

Meanwhile, the Saptah committee Vice President Pratap Gaonkar said a donation of Rs 50,000 to the committee was still pending. Councillor Khadapkar replied that the MMC had recently decided to clear the donation amount of last year and this year together. 

 Issues such as shifting of furniture stalls to Baina beach opening of Khariwado road, etc, were also discussed