PANAJI
Days after they were shifted back to their original location, fish vendors and market-goers have discovered that the newly built temporary shelter at the Panaji market is posing an awkward problem — waterlogging in the foot passages meant for people to move.
Vendors and many residents complain that no care has been taken to ensure drainage, leading to the accumulation of residual water flowing from the fish on display for sale on the platforms.
“This leads to an unbearable stench in the fish market,” said one of the vendors, adding that the drainage system built on the flanks is rendered useless.
Another vendor said no such problem was experienced in the older shed, which was demolished to build this new one.
In September last year, the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) had decided to demolish the old shed and construct this new one simultaneously with demolishing the multi-storeyed old market edifice built in the 1980s.
While this new shed was being built, the fish vendors were shifted to the side road leading to the market. They were relocated here on Saturday after this new shed was completed.
CCP officials said the vendors were shifted to the new shed in a hurry to avoid the inconveniences they and the public were facing at the makeshift shed on the side road, suggesting that the drainage of water might have been overlooked in the hurry.
“Kota stone is currently used here. These tiles are easy to remove. The tiles will be removed, and the ground levelled after providing a proper slope for natural draining of the water,” CCP Market Committee chairman Bento Lorena told The Goan.
