This week, there was chaos at the Mapusa market when vendors who were selling traditional items for Chaturthi were asked to move out of the market. They were told to move and set up their wares at the land acquired for the bus or at the taxi stand. Since the land for the bus stand was not levelled they protested and the Mapusa Municipal Council allotted the traders a small stretch at the market. It being too small, many had to return home with their unsold items.
A week earlier, there was an almost similar situation in Panjim, when vendors, who had set up stalls for the Asthami fair, were made to vacate the stretch along the River Mandovi by the Corporation of the City of Panaji.
The imbroglio over the Asthami fair in Panjim, that first saw an attempt at demolishing the stalls and later relocating it to the Kala Academy, and the incident at Mapusa underline the need to reserve a space in the urban areas of the State for such fairs and markets. The problems that arise due to the fairs are not restricted to these two instances. Over the past few years there has been opposition to the fairs along roadsides or on footpaths. The annual fair that sprouts up along the Church Square in Panjim twice a year, the fair in Margao for the feasts of the Holy Spirit and Immaculate Conception that has been moved from alongside the highway to another area following a High Court order, and even the Vasco Saptah fair, that has been decreased in the number of days so that traffic and pedestrian movement is not hampered, have been affected.
Cancelling a fair, shifting it out of its traditional area at the last moment, disappoints not just the vendors, who suffer huge losses, but also the thousands of people who make time to visit the fair or market for purchases. But, in some cases there are also genuine reasons for the fair to be cancelled or shifted. The main issues here are hygiene, garbage creation and disruption of normal activity like traffic and pedestrian movement and business activity. When CCP decided not to grant permission to the temporary traders that gather for the fair at the Church Square for the feast, it was because the vendors, mainly migrants, squat on the sidewalks and roads of the city selling their wares which leads to unhygienic situation as the vendors have no proper facilities for their needs.
A fair along a crowded street or a main thoroughfare will definitely cause a lot of inconvenience and there are genuine reasons listed. The easy way out is withdrawing permission for the fairs and stalls.
The solution would lie in identifying an area where the fairs can be held, an area where the vendors would also be given facilities for their needs, that wouldn’t lead to hygiene issues. What needs to be done is to identify such an area for the fair and also find ways to organise the traffic movement, reduce garbage, maintain hygiene and keep open access to the business establishments in the area for the days during which the fair was allowed.
The authorities are aware that they cannot allow a fair on the footpaths or alongside the road. They are also aware at which times of the year vendors turn up with their wares to set up their stalls. Why then isn’t there a plan formulated in advance to give the vendors another space with all facilities? It is just not fair to the vendors to demolish their stalls or send them back after they have arrived.
