The stink has not abated even a little bit at the messy South Goa Planning and Development Authority’s (SGPDA) wholesale fish market since local resident Savio Dias knocked the doors of the District Magistrate for relief. Dias had approached the District Magistrate under section 133 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) around two years ago seeking relief from the nuisance and the health hazard.
On the contrary, proceedings under section 133 of the CrPC have been dragging on before the District Magistrate since 2013. No one in the corridors of the District Collectorate knows for sure when the curtains will come down on the proceedings and bring relief to the residents of Madel and the thousands of persons who visit the wholesale fish market every day.
Herald inquiries have revealed that then district magistrate N D Agrawal had ordered the constitution of a three-member panel of citizens headed by Sheikh Iftiyaz to inspect the wholesale fish market and suggest improvements. The damning report filed by Iftiyaz in 2013 should have spurred the then district magistrate to pass orders to the SGPDA to stem the rot, but it didn’t so happen. It was only after the complainant threatened to withdraw his complaint in protest that Agrawal had fixed the matter for orders at the fag end of December 2013.
Incidentally, Agrawal retired as District Magistrate on December 31, 2013 without passing any order, leaving the task to his successor. Incumbent District Magistrate Venancio Furtado has completed one year in office, but there’s no sign of the proceedings coming to an early end.
A dejected Dias has now moved the district magistrate with a plea for an injunction pending final disposal of the case.
“I have petitioned before the district magistrate under section 133 of the CrPC to secure justice for the local residents as well as the thousands of visitors to the wholesale fish market. I have made umpteen trips to the corridors of the district Collectorate since the petition was filed in 2013. I fail to understand why the proceedings have not been taken to their logical end despite the fact that I have asked for relief from the stinking environment for the public at large,” Dias said.
