TEAM HERALD
MARGAO: The Margao Municipal Council on Monday cracked a whip against encroachments on the city passages and footpaths as many termed the action as a farce for want of a mechanism to auction the seized goods.
No sooner the goods were seized by municipal teams led by inspectors, owners of the goods made their presence felt in the corridors of the civic body, even before the trucks could unload the seized material in the municipal building.
While the total value of the seized goods was put at Rs 1 lakh, doubts were raised over the efficacy of the drive in the absence of a mechanism to auction the goods. The Margao civic body has till date not adopted a policy to auction the seized material and normally returns the goods the very same day after payment of a paltry fine.
Even municipal officials admit in private that the system of fines has failed to deter unscrupulous traders and shop owners from either displaying their goods in the passages or encroaching on the footpaths.
When the media sough to ascertain the views of MMC Vice-Chairperson Dadi Mayenkar, who is also the Chairman of the market panel, he said the absence of a store has come in the way of the civic body auctioning the seized material.
A municipal inspector pointed out the issue of auctioning the seized goods rests with the council. “Right now, the civic body does not follow the policy of auctioning the seized goods. Given the situation, the goods are returned back to the traders after payment of a fine,” the municipal inspector said. Incidentally, it is not uncommon to find the seized goods back in the passages and on the footpaths after they are returned to the traders, indicating that the system of returning the goods back to the violators has failed to serve its purpose.
