Asmita Polji
asmita@herald-goa.com
PERNEM: It may have caught the eye of the entire country after becoming home to the Manohar International Airport and the All India Institute of Ayurveda, but development in the Pernemtaluka appears to be limited only to these big-ticket projects.
The locals, meanwhile, continue to make do with archaic facilities, a prominent one being the weekly market at Pernem town every Thursday that attracts not only the entire taluka but also people from Goa’s border villages.
The bazaar unfurls onto the town’s main road, and while it was charming and probably even convenient in the past when vehicle density was lesser, it has now turned into a major problem, creating traffic jams and amplifying calls for a dedicated market complex that the area so badly needs.
Come Thursday and vendors scurry to find a place along Pernem’s main road to sell their ware. They end up occupying at least half a kilometre of the stretch, right from the Pernem Municipal Council building to the court. To accommodate them, vehicles are diverted to other narrower lanes which in turn creates nasty traffic snarls.
Even emergency services are hampered. To navigate this, fire tenders are parked on the outskirts of the market every Thursday as setting out from the fire station – which is located on the ground floor of the administrative complex – is virtually impossible amid the flurry of activity at the market just outside it.
The situation only gets worse during the monsoon, with nothing to shield the vendors and shoppers from the driving rain.
That’s not all. Once the market closes, municipal workers are faced with mountains of garbage to clear the following day.
The bazaar itself generates at least three tonnes of waste every Thursday, making it an uphill task for the municipality to clear quickly and efficiently.
“Pernem town got its bus stand after waiting for almost 25 years, so it looks like the market project has a long way to go. The garbage treatment plant, on the other hand, is lying idle.
It appears that elected representatives, both past and present, are not keen on pursuing the development of the town,” local resident S Naik said.
