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From 3pm tomorrow, Panaji market to be shut

Panaji: The Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) has decided to keep the Panaji market closed for half day on August 14 to sanitise parts of the market for the safety of visitors visiting for Ganesh Chaturthi shopping.

“We want to sanitise the Panaji municipal market complex, fish market, and its surroundings before Ganesh Chaturthi.

The task will be executed in the second half of the day (Friday),” Panaji mayor, Uday Madkaikar said.

These parts of the market will be inaccessible to the general public from 3pm onwards.

The Ashtam fair, which is annually held on the promenade along the Mandovi riverfront in Panaji, has been cancelled in the wake of rising Covid-19 cases and social distancing norms. The fair usually sees a multitude of stalls selling furniture, clothes and festive items. The matoli market, which is simultaneously held, will however be given a free pass.

Preparations are being done to organise the matoli bazaar in the surrounding areas. For this, the portion adjoining Royal Chicken and the stretch of road in front of the Dempo building may be cordoned off to ensure that the area is restricted to only buyers and sellers of matoli items.

“We will take a call on whether or not there will be a cut off on the number of sellers,” Madkaikar said.

A meeting has been called by the CCP on Friday in the presence of representatives of police , traffic cell, fire services, North Goa collectorate, river navigation department and Drishti. The officials will discuss the organisation of the matoli bazaar and also chalk out guidelines for restricting the crowd at the places of immersion of the Ganesh idols in Panaji.

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