Team Herald
PANJIM: After being caught off guard due to the sudden rain showers during the week, Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) on Saturday distributed over 200 dustbins to vendors in the municipal market.
Panjim Mayor Surendra Furtado said that the initiative was taken as it was observed that a large amount of garbage is generated by vendors who don’t dispose of the waste properly. He alleged that the garbage caused clogging of market drains which is mainly responsible for water clogging and causing floods around the market area.
“You can see that these shopkeepers throw their garbage on the footpaths and with heavy rains this garbage flows into the drain. There the garbage chokes and blocks the drains and hence everything gets flooded,” he stated.
Stating that it is everyone’s responsibility to keep the city clean and maintain their surroundings, Furtado said that CCP can function up to a certain limit and requires cooperation from all, including the vendors and residents of Panjim.
He said, “We have provided every shopkeeper with a 50 litre dustbin and expect them to henceforth collect all their waste in these bins and CCP would collect their waste. We hope they don’t take these home and use them for other purposes.”
The Mayor said that despite the good efforts of the CCP to carry out pre-monsoon works well in advance and clean the drains, the negligence of a few has been costing the city and drains getting clogged at several places as garbage is thrown in the open.
