Team Herald
CURCHOREM: During the Sunday bazaar at Curchorem once again some street vendors are seen occupying the passages of the buildings in the market area from Goa Urban Co-Operative Bank premises to State Bank of India premises.
Recently, Curchorem-Cacora Municipal Council (CCMC) shifted all the street vendors in the municipal shed constructed especially for them in the GSUDA complex. This was done to keep all the passages free for the movement of pedestrians as per the High Court order.
When asked whether the council has sent any notice to Curchorem Merchant Association (CMA) directing them to clear all the buildings passages from encroachments as per High Court order, municipal Chairman Balkrishna (Pinty) Hodarkar said that he would give them one more opportunity by informally discussing the matter with them on Monday failing which he would take action.When contacted, CMA President Rocha Pereira said that it is the duty of the council to keep passages free from encroachment. “I do not know who allowed the street vendors to occupy the passages. We are having a meeting with them on Monday and I will definitely bring this issue to their notice,” Pereira said.
Coming down heavily on the council, former councillor Manohar Naik said, “I am completely against the harassment meted out to small vegetable vendors who spent the whole day on the street to make their living. If CCMC wants to take action as per the High Court order, then, they must take it against every one and not selectively. They must keep all the passages free from encroachments every day and not only when they want and absolutely not selectively.”
Naik demanded that the Directorate of Municipal Administration (DMA) constitute a committee of experts to conduct inspections of all the commercial buildings in Curchorem market and inform the citizens whether they kept parking lot and open spaces as per their approved plans by the TCP.
“DMA must take it seriously and find out whether the parking lot and open spaces are maintained as per their approved plans or converted as most of the vehicles of the occupants of these buildings are parked on the public roads creating parking difficulties for the public who are visiting the market for shopping,” Naik said and informed that even the land which was acquired to create parking lot near the public garden is used to construct new municipal administrative building.
