Flower vendors of Panaji market choose safety, say no to allocated space

PANAJI: Flower vendors continued to operate from inside the Panaji municipal market complex throwing the arrangements made by the Corporation of the City of Panaji’s (CCP) to the winds. CCP had arranged for the fair to happen outside the market complex. The sale of fresh flowers on the eve of Ganesh Chaturthi attracted a crowd and business was conducted under the watchful eye of CCP inspectors who urged buyers to maintain social distancing.
“Selling the flowers in the heavy rain would’ve been risky for our health. It is only due to the pandemic that we have refused to sit outside the complex. Buyers are being responsible in their interaction with us so it’s safer for everyone to operate from inside,” one of the vendors said.
The fruit, vegetable and flower vendors who occupy businesses inside the Panaji municipal market complex were reluctant to occupy spaces allotted to them outside the building on Thursday for the three-day Ganesh Chaturthi bazaar. Due to the pandemic, they were worried that selling their produce in the open while it continued raining heavily could get them sick, besides the fear of contracting dengue and malaria.
On Friday, some fruit and vegetable vendors camped outside at the space designated to them by the CCP, while others continued to operate from inside the market complex. The flower vendors however did not budge and continued to sell their produce from inside the building.
Sources said that the flower vendors were backed by the market association members and the Goa Pradesh Mahila Congress president Pratima Coutinho who demanded that the vendors' safety be prioritised.
“While I’m thankful to the mayor for hearing my plea and allowing local flower vendors to sit inside the complex, the CCP must not play with the lives of local vendors. Even the blame games must stop. Previously, there have been many Covid-19 cases detected in the Panaji market after which market areas were sanitised by the CCP,” Coutinho said.
After the CCP reversed its decision and allowed flower vendors to sit inside the complex, Panaji mayor Uday Madkaikar said if anything goes wrong, Coutinho and the market association members would be responsible.