Margao New Market traders to shut shop on Wednesday

MARGAO, MARCH 26
Margao’s bustling New Market will be shut down on Wednesday next as the traders are up in arms over the indifferent attitude of the government authorities to solve their long-pending demands, including the mushrooming vegetable stalls and exhibition-cum-sales in the Commercial Capital.
The decision to shut down the market comes a month against the traders under the banner of Margao New Market Traders Association called on the Chief Minister, Digambar Kamat and submitted the list of long-pending demands.
“Nothing much has taken place since our meeting with the Chief Minister. The time has come to act and we have decided to close down the New Market on Wednesday”, thundered Association President Vinod Shirodkar.
Shirodkar expressed confidence that various traders association in the SGPDA market and others will extend support to their just cause on Wednesday.
A furious Shirodkar said the exhibition-cum-sales continues in the city despite assurances that only one exhibition per month will be permitted at the BPS club premises. “Besides BPS Club, exhibitions are now taking place elsewhere, including the SGPDA grounds, adversely affecting the traders”, he added.
The mushrooming vegetable kiosks under the scheme of the Horticulture Corporation of Goa has also come in for strong criticism from the New market traders and vegetable vendors. “We have no objection if people are being made available cheap vegetables. But, the question is the regular traders and vendors are left high and dry by the diversion of business”, Shirodkar said.
In this context, he said the traders had drawn the attention of the Chief Minister to the problems faced by the vegetable vendors and had demanded that the market vendors be also provided vegetables at the government rates, but in vain. “How will the vendors and traders survive in the market in these circumstances”, he sought to know.
Moreover, the New Market traders are up in arms over the repeated failures by the Margao Municipal Council towards the upkeep and maintenance of the Municipal market. ‘Nothing has changed a bit since our meeting with the Chief Minister and the Civic authorities. Not one of the demands put forth by us during the meeting have been addressed by the Civic body”, Shirodkar said and observed that the traders now have no option than to resort to direct action to force the authorities to act.
In this connection, a delegation of the New Market traders would call on their counterparts in Mapusa and other towns to seek support against the exhibitions-cum-sales across the state.