Goemkarponn desk
SANQUELIM: Chairperson of Sanquelim Municipal Council (SMC) Rajesh Sawal said the Municipality will sort out the issue of vendor space allotment before the upcoming SMC Bazar day.
“The decision of vendor relocation is taken to enable smooth vehicle parking for customers”, he added.
Sawal said, “Locals had started turning their back to the weekly bazaar due to shortage of parking space and traffic congestion”. Vendor relocation will make a lot of space available for the customers to park. The move is aimed at boosting the business of local vendors, Sawal added.
When spoken to one of the municipality workers, Yashwant Aroskar said the Municipality had demarcated the blocks of 3 metres for the existing 170 vendors in a total area of 3,300 sq metres.
On the day of the relocation, around 250 new vendors randomly occupied the spaces without giving prior notice to Municipality. “This resulted in extreme chaos and arguments in the market. Municipal Chairperson interfered personally to sort the issue”, he added.
Sanquelim market, on its weekly bazaar day, had witnessed absolute chaos over the topic of vendor relocation and space allotment. The market on Monday also witnessed a heated argument over the influx of vendors claiming a dedicated place in the new market area.
Local vendors at this time had also levelled allegations stating Municipality prioritises migrant vendors over local ones.
Refuting the allegations, Sawal said he had successfully sorted out the issue of allocating space to vendors by giving priority to old vendors over new ones. Details of new vendors have also been noted down to allocate the market space to them, if available. “Since every vendor strives to serve the people of Sanquelim, Municipality will try to fit in the new vendors, irrespective of whether they are locals or outsiders, depending upon the space availability”, added Sawal.
Sawal further said that no new vendor could encroach on the market land without permission.
