NT Reporter
Canacona
Roadside markets at Balli, Bendordem, Khaddem, Chedwa Sanvor, Padi, Barcem, Goddeavoll, Agonda road junction and Gulem become active after the monsoon, with vendors depending on motorists for sales. But with preliminary work on the 22.1-km NH-66 stretch from Bendordem in Quepem to Polem now under way, these vendors
face the prospect of losing their livelihoods.
Tree cutting along the proposed alignment has begun, while the more than 100 small vendors and makeshift thatched stalls along the stretch are within the road-widening zone and may have no place to sell their produce.
The vendors sell fruits and vegetables grown on hill slopes, locally called ‘kamoth’. Local sources said around 200 households sell such produce along the highway from Balli
to Canacona.
The produce includes tubers, ladyfingers, snake gourd, bottle gourd, ridged gourd, cucumbers, bitter gourd, brinjals, pumpkin, katekongam, zaddkongam, Indian spinach, teflam, chillies, muskmelons and locally grown fruits. Vendors also sell homemade pickles, eatables, solas, masalas
and brooms.
“It’s become a family tradition to sell on the stilt markets. We save on time and travel and we can go back home as soon as we finish selling our items,” said Chandan Goankar, who sells muskmelons from her kamoth.
The work order for four-laning the Bendordem-Charasta and Mashem-Polem sections has been issued. Actual work is expected to begin in October and be completed within two to two-and-a-half years.
As widening and setback requirements may end
the roadside markets, vendors are seeking alternative spaces.
They said dedicated agricultural produce sheds had been proposed during former chief minister Manohar Parrikar’s tenure but were never established.
Except Sristhal panchayat, no other panchayat has passed a resolution to rehabilitate local vendors by constructing roadside bays for the sale of
their produce.
The vendors have urged panchayats and the government to identify designated vending areas that would allow them to continue selling without affecting traffic or highway safety.
