NT Reporter | Mapusa
A joint inspection was conducted on Monday evening to verify the compliance report submitted by the Mapusa Municipal Council (MMC) in response to the final notice issued over the unhygienic conditions at the fish market.
While MMC claimed that around 70-80 percent compliance, health officials said that total compliance was yet to be achieved and that a report would be submitted for further action.
It may be recalled that the Mapusa Urban Health Centre had issued a final notice to MMC directing it to abate the nuisance on the premises and ensure compliance, failing which the Deputy Collector, Bardez, would be informed to take necessary action to seal the fish and meat market complex until proper and satisfactory conditions were restored.
The inspection was carried out by health officer Dr Dinesh Parab of the Mapusa UHC, in the presence of MMC market chairperson Sainath Raul, Municipal Engineer II Vishant Naik, municipal engineer III Sangeeta Satardekar, and others.
Health officials pointed to several discrepancies, such as an open drainage chamber pipeline covered with a banner, uncleared materials, and open wet chicken waste in stalls.
Raul said that around 70-80 percent of the work had been completed as instructed by the health officer and that the remaining work was in process. “Not all works can be completed at once, but MMC has sincerely looked into the issues,” said Raul.
He added that the responsibility of maintaining cleanliness also lies with the vendors. Meanwhile, MMC workers were seen cleaning the fish market just prior to the inspection. However, broken lighting fixtures, unclean window panes, dirty fans, spit-stained walls, and dumped old materials were still visible.
