TEAM HERALD
PONDA: In a bid to assuage local vendors who have been displaced from the footpaths following agitations by market vendors, the Ponda Municipal Council (PMC) Vice Chairperson Shantaram Colvekar has assured to allot space to the local vendors for their business activities.
Speaking to Herald, Colvekar and PMC Councillor Venktesh Naik said they would raise the issue of local fruit vendors in the next council meeting.
Colvekar and Naik assured to make efforts to make special provision of spaces in Ponda so that the traditional Ponda taluka local vendors can sell their goods.
The local vendors, who were earlier located on footpaths, do not have space to sit and sell their produce since the last two weeks, following the Mission Footpath Hatav agitation by Ponda market shed vendors. Ponda police, market inspectors and market shed vendors have been preventing local vendors from selling their wares on the footpaths.
Colvekar said it was injustice to remove the local fruit vendors from the market without any rehabilitation.
“It also violates the Supreme Court guideline on footpath vendors. We will take up the issue with the council and discuss the problem of the local vendors of Ponda taluka, who are not allowed to sell their goods on footpaths at Budhwar Peth market, Ponda,” he said.
“This is injustice to such vendors. The market shed vendors should not create trouble for them in Ponda market, as the local footpath vendors are doing their business on weekly market days on Wednesday and Saturday and it is for all people from the taluka,” he said.
Colvekar and Venktesh Naik told Herald that they will see to it that some arrangement of place is made for the local vendors in Ponda market to sell their locally grown fruits, vegetables and other commodities. They said they will definitely raise the issue in PMC meeting and it will decide the future course of action.
