MAPUSA: The members of Mapusa Merchants Association (MMA) staged a peaceful protest rally from Mapusa market to Mapusa Municipal Council, on Monday morning.
A delegation of Mapusa merchants led by MMA President Ashish Shirodkar submitted a memorandum of demands to Municipal Chairperson Sandeep Falari.
Through the memorandum, the merchants placed three demands before the municipality and warned that if the same were not fulfilled within a time frame, they would be forced to launch a multipronged aggressive agitation.
The first demand is that the sopo allotment auction for 2017-2018 be kept on hold till the Mapusa Municipal Council’s town vending committee is formed.
The memorandum called for segregation of Mapusa market hawkers and vendors. “Put immediate stop to new vendors and hawkers occupying vacant space till vending zones are identified; and vendors who keep their stock in market and occupy space, should clear their stock by 10 pm from the market,” the memorandum reads as, setting a deadline of March 15 to meet the demand.
The second set of demand includes insurance cover for shops and premises; pre-monsoon maintenance such as cleaning and de-silting of gutters/drains, cleaning up of all overhead dry vegetation on the market building which may cause fire incidents. Besides, the second set of demands include replacement of all overhead electrical wires and cables, replacing damaged drainage covers, repair and painting of market building and renovation of public toilets. The deadline for the second set of demands is April 30.
The third set of demand is: immediate implementation of pay parking in the market area; demarcation of proper parking zones; provision for merchants to bring in their vehicles or supply vans. The merchants have set March 15 as deadline for the municipality to meet these demands.
