PANAJI: The two Saturday
night markets that usually open during the tourist season may not be permitted this time, as the Arpora-Nagoa panchayat isn’t in favour of allowing them.
The panchayat will meet next week, and hasn’t yet taken a decision on the two similarly-named establishments — Saturday night market and Saturday night bazar.
Sarpanch Rajesh Morajkar told TOI he isn’t in favour of the two due to Covid-19, but that a proper decision would be taken at the meet. The organisers of Saturday night market have applied for permission, and the panchayat has forwarded the same to the block development officer (BDO).
“The government might permit them, but we don’t want the two events to take place as crowding would increase the risk of infection,” he said.
Another panch member, Srikrishna Nagvekar, too said he too doesn’t want either the Saturday night market or the Saturday night bazaar this year.
An office-bearer of Saturday night market said they’re ready to open and comply with precautions as per protocol.
“We have decided that stalls this time will be bigger in size, and they will naturally act as barriers and help maintain social distancing when attendance is large,” he said. “We have a plan ready to conduct the market with all protocols in place.”
He said that when all other activities have been given permission, he sees no reason why only night markets are not allowed.
The Saturday night market has stalls by a lot of foreign vendors, along with artisans from various parts of the country. It is frequented by niche tourists, both foreign and domestic, for its ambience, cuisine and music.
He said that although foreign tourists are not yet allowed in the country due to the ban on international commercial flights, most of the foreign vendors will be able to participate as they are still in India on an extended business visa.