MARGAO: Agitated traders of the municipal markets, including New Market and Gandhi Market, marched to the Margao Municipal Council and gheraoed Chief Officer Narayan Sawant to protest against the civic body’s indifference to the basic infrastructure required in the market, including fire fighting arrangements.
The traders have served an eight day ultimatum on the civic body to meet their demands, including their demand to put in place an overhead water tank or threatened to stop paying sopo tax to the Municipality.
Led by New Market Traders Association President Vinod Shirodkar, the traders received the support of Independent Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardesai and former MLA Babu Azgaonkar as they questioned the Chief Officer on a host of issues concerning the municipal markets.
The traders and the MLA demanded to know from the Chief Officer the inordinate delay in putting in place the overhead water tank. An Assistant PWD engineer, who explained the reasons behind the delay in issuing the work orders to the contractor, also came at the receiving end of the agitated traders.
Vijai Sardesai later told the media that the traders will not pay the sopo tax after eight days if the civic body fails to wake up from slumber and act on the long pending demands. He was highly critical of the City Fathers, accusing them for the neglect of the markets in particular and the city in particular.
Babu Azgaonkar warned the Civic body of a sustained agitation saying that patience of the Municipal market traders running out, even as he called upon all market traders to unite to fight for their just and genuine demands.
