The South Goa Planning and Development Authority has rebel Congressman, Mauvin Godinho at the helm. His plans for 2015-16 were to beautify and give the SGPDA market a facelift and to build a new compound wall for the existing wholesale market complex, all this to rid the two markets of Margao of controversies and shabbiness.
Mauvin who’s in the good books of the Union Minister of Defence, Manohar Parrikar and Chief Minister, Laxmikant Parsekar is in embargo and is waiting to crossover from the Congress to the BJP. Hence, he feels he has to impress in order to receive this green signal.
He has joined hands with Clean Margao and Green Margao head, Rajan Talak, another aspirant for Margao’s BJP ticket. Talak and Mauvin have been on a war footing to get the market painted, plant fancy ornamental palms costing lakhs of rupees and covering the broken parts of the market with greenhouse plastic tarpaulin.
But the ground reality is that the market is in a colossal mess. Old thermocol tubs with rotten fish water, meat and fish carcasses lying in the back service areas on which over 100 stray dogs are feasting, open sewage drains and stagnant water is the highlight of the existing market. Even worse, an entire section of the market, earmarked for fish vendors lies unutilized and filthy with alcohol bottles and garbage from a nearby restaurant lying around.
“The problem here is that that fish vendors who have been allotted these spots, have abandoned them and sit illegally in the open at the old fish market or outside the wholesale fish market. I want to build the compound walls around these markets and then we’ll ensure that these vendors come to their allotted spots and sit and then cleanliness will automatically be enforced,” justifies SGPDA Chairman, Mauvin Godinho.
But the bigger problem of the market is the garbage and stench and the free banana republic of Margao that it is, where matka agents and gamblers function out of areas allotted to fruit and fish vendors. We interacted with one such matka agent who tells us, “But I pay sopo tax here in the market, so what if I don’t have fruits to sell. Everyone from the market complex comes to me only to bet and bid on numbers. Nobody till date has raised an objection.”
“I know garbage is a problem in the market. We have appointed an agency to take care of the garbage and sewage water. We also have an NGO with who we have a tie up and I hope I can resolve these issues in the market. We also pay the Margao Municipality a fee to pick up and take our garbage, so they also in a way are responsible for the market,” explained Mauvin.
The municipality’s sanitation department asserted that its only job is to pick up the garbage from the designated garbage pickup point and beyond that it’s not their business. Margao Municipality Chairperson, Babita Angle and local Fatorda councilor, Lyndon Pereira refused to comment on the maintenance of the SGPDA market.
“I have taken up the market as an NGO initiative under Clean Margao while I am looking at bagging the painting the market through a tender. The market needs to be revived. Its drainage pipes, sewage system is all in a dilapidated state. My primary focus is to first clear the fish market of all old thermocol boxes and unused packaging and then to ensure that the market is dry and not stinking and provide the market with a toilet facility. I will then tackle the sewage and lastly the painting of the entire complex,” asserted builder and developer and pioneer of the Clean and Green Margao initiative, Rajan Talak.
“We fruit vendors do our business and drop off any packaging waste to the wet and dry dustbins allotted. The problem is the fish and meat vendors, who bring cans and drums of meat and store and dispose all that in their service entrance area. All this raises a stink in the entire market. Even the migrant workers stay and defecate in the unused market section, which is terrible for us,” explains Rosario Fernandes who sells fruits in the market.
