It was around the year 1999 that the axe fell on the decades-old gaddas located along the road widening and set back areas of the Commercial Capital. Many a beleaguered gadda owner is still awaiting proper rehabilitation, while others restarted their business from scratch in new places as part of their temporary rehabilitation.
A decade-and-half now since then and one now comes across many new gaddas sanctioned under the Deen Dayal scheme and the Goa State Horticultural Corporation sprouting in various nooks and corners of the town.
Many of these gaddas, especially those sanctioned under the Deen Dayal scheme, initially made their presence felt even without the permission from the Margao Municipal Council. Leader of the Margao Gandhi Market Vendors’ Association Manohar (Babu) Azgaonkar has been strident in his opposition to the presence of new gaddas when the Margao Municipality had gone overboard in 1999 to clear the old gaddas from their locations.
“It is sheer irony that while the municipality cleared many a gadda from the road widening and setback areas, today we find dozens of kiosks in the town either set up by the Horticulture Corporation or under the Deen Dayal scheme. Gaddas which were existing from the Portuguese era were removed to make way for the new kiosks,” Azgaonkar said.
