The Mapusa Municipal Council (MMC) on Thursday demolished 13 shops as part of a drive along the road-widening portion of the Mapusa-Calangute road.
These shops located between Canca and Gandhi Chowk were causing a hindrance to the road widening process and they were demolished by the MMC. The MMC had begun the process to shift the shops in October 2021 and had offered shop owners alternate space on the first floor of the old interstate bus stand building.
However, the shopkeepers demanded space on the ground floor on grounds that the alternative space offered was not suitable for their business.The MMC then issued notices to shopkeepers to vacate their premises two days ago, but the vendors refused to shift to the new space on their own.
On Thursday, the MMC demolished all shops and a police team was present to prevent any untoward incident. Joint Mamlatdar Rajaram Parab along with Mapusa Police PSIs Sunil Patil and Vibha Volvoikar were present on the occasion.
The shopkeepers protested and accused the MMC of dictatorial attitude while shifting them from their original place of business. They complained that the new place is inconvenient for business and there was no electricity connection and other infrastructural facilities.They also alleged that the MMC did not give them enough time to remove property from their shops.
“We have been doing business here for the past 55-60 years. We have work permit (trade licence) from the MMC. We pay taxes every year and when we are doing business lawfully, why should our shops be demolished,” asked one aggrieved shop owner.
Bharat Chari, a key-maker could not control his tears when he saw the JCB demolish his shop. “I had to bear financial losses as I could not take out my belongings from my shop. The MMC and the government have not bothered to take care of our belongings and businesses,” complained Chari. Dattaram Pednekar, Shekhar Ghadi and other affected shopkeepers also complained that the process to demolish their shops had been unfair.
