MARGAO: The Margao Municipal Council has made a fool of itself by launching an anti-encroachment drive without foresight.
The MMC had ordered action against the encroaching carts around the town after a self-styled chief of vendors association had argued and booed the chairperson earlier in July.
Following the booing, the MMC in five days picked up 30 carts from Margao.
The MMC had promised to pay overtime wages to employees who carried out the anti-encroachment drive in the evening and had spent over Rs 1.5 lakh on the entire exercise.
However, the MMC has recovered only Rs 61,000 from fines by returning the carts. In addition, pitying the illegal cart owners, the council is now trying to get them permissions.
The entire issue got raked up after Vijay Singh’s act of challenging the chairperson. Chief Officer Yashwant Tawde had later mobilised the MMC staff and the daily wage workers to assist the team and execute the drive after 7 o’clock in the evening.
As many as 20 workers, two trucks and a jeep were employed for the drive.
When asked throw light on the council’s efforts at getting permission for the illegal carts, Chief Officer Yashwant Tawde said, “There is neither a possibility nor a provision to give licences.”
“In the entire country there are concepts of hawkers and vendor zones and satellite markets, but Margao doesn’t have any such facility,” Tawde said.
“The idea of having a vending zone is also been thought of and a committee of vendors, councillors and people will be formed under the council to hold deliberations regarding the same soon,” he added.
Meanwhile, the municipality has begun returning several carts which were confiscated in the anti-encroachment drive held early July. And with that, the promise of the municipality of not returning the carts made is being mocked at by the city dwellers, now.
Several of the carts were given back Wednesday by charging Rs 4000 as fine.
After seizing 30 gadas from around the town, the municipality vowed not to return the carts.
However, the council has later claimed that there was no official resolution on dismantling and auctioning the gadas.
With the MMC taking a U-turn on its vow not to return the carts, several gadas are now seen back on the roadsides doing business. These gadas don’t pay any tax or fees to the MMC, but create nuisance.
Meanwhile, the MMC in yet another anti-encroachment drive cleared confiscated four carts near the rail walkover bridge in Aquem which have been causing nuisance at the place for several years.
