Team Goemkarponn
MAPUSA: The Mapusa Municipal Council has confiscated a total of 1,015 packets of tobacco products during a crackdown on illegal sales in and around the Mapusa bus stand and market area. The operation targeted 20 vendors caught selling gutkha and other tobacco items. Of the seized stock, 900 packets were gutkha, while 115 comprised other tobacco products, collectively valued at several thousand rupees.
The drive was conducted under the State-wide “Tobacco-Free Bus Stand” initiative organized by GOACAN. The enforcement team was led by Municipal Inspector Prajwal Dhargalkar, along with supervisor Anand Talwar, municipal workers Prakash Pujari and Amit Shetye, and GOACAN representatives. Raids were carried out at ten different locations, and penalties were imposed on the vendors found violating the regulations.
Inspector Dhargalkar stated that the drive was carried out on instructions from the chief officer and assured that similar enforcement actions would continue in the coming days to curb illegal tobacco sales.
The council had conducted a similar operation two years ago, during which goods worth Rs 3–4 lakh were seized from a vendor in the market. However, that stock, stored at the Cunchelim waste plant, went missing, and no inquiry has been conducted regarding the incident so far.
