Vegetable vendors at Panaji market struggle to sell produce

PANAJI: Battling the scorching summer heat and carrying fresh greens from distant villages to sell at the Panaji market at a loss, the hawkers stationed opposite the Inox parking lot are bearing the brunt of the new normal in the bazaar.
Prior to the lockdown, the hawkers would usually occupy the space adjoining the exit gate of the Panaji municipal market complex.
However, after the market partially opened, the vegetable vendors who had their kiosks inside the complex were shifted on to the road along the exit gate.
With the road being barricaded to avoid the influx of vehicles , the space doesn’t see as many footfalls.
“I used to be able to sell anywhere between 100-150 coconuts a day prior to the lockdown. Here, selling even five coconuts is an achievement,” said Krishna Gaude who brings dozens of the nuts from Marcaim.
Around 10 hawkers at this location start their business at 8am and are supposed to wait till around 1pm. But the extreme heat is unbearable due to which they are forced to pack up and leave before 12pm. The lack of proper transportation facilities is an additional burden for these small time vendors. “Since there are fewer private buses on the road, we are forced to bring the greens using our own transport,” said Shubhangi Nerkar.
“I take a bus from Siridao early in the morning to come here. To return, I hitch a ride with someone, usually one of the vegetable trucks returning in the afternoon,” Kanti Mangueshkar from Siridao said. Vaishali Vasant Kare said she has appealed to CCP inspectors multiple times to relocate hawkers to the space near Panaji municipal market complex but her request has fallen on deaf ears.
“We are not in the line of sight of shoppers. They purchase their requirements from the vendors sitting outside the Panaji municipal market complex,” she said.
The venture is therefore proving to be loss-making for them. However, the miseries of the lockdown have left them with no choice but to continue coming to the Panaji market and selling whatever little they can.
This is a temporary arrangement during the lockdown, mayor Uday Madkaikar said, adding, “If the government gives approval to restart the municipal market in a full-fledged manner after May 17, we will bring them back to their original space.”