MARGAO: Police dispersed the massive rush of consumers at the grocery stores and the ones dealing in rainwear and other items in the New Market and Gandhi Market, which reopened on Monday with restrictions.
“Yes, there was a rush in the market during the early business hours but we managed to disperse off the crowd with the help of police and municipal inspectors”, said Chief Officer, Margao Municipality Agnelo Fernandes.
He also informed that shops selling grocery items and rainwear were allowed to open with restrictions. Both the markets were partially reopened.
Chief Officer said the MMC will maintain vigil in the market at regular intervals to ensure protocols are not violated by the vendors.
New Market Vendors’ Association president Vinod Shirodkar said, “We had urged the government to allow us to open the market and our request has been granted.”
“We could have been in total loss if we were not allowed to open our shops. We are trying our best to follow the COVID safety norms, a few of our members are personally monitoring and requesting the people to follow the COVID protocols,” he said.
He said that all vendors will use masks and sanitisers.
Vinod hopes that the loss will be recovered in the next few days.
It may be recalled that vendors had demanded that they be allowed to open their shops, especially the ones dealing with grocery and plastic goods such as rainwear, umbrellas, and tarpaulin. However, the mad rush was witnessed in both the markets.
