Panaji market to stay open

Panaji: The Panaji market will continue to function as is during the extended lockdown, till May 31, city mayor Uday Madkaikar said.

After lockdown 3.0 ended on May 17, the Corporation of the city of Panaji (CCP) had held a meeting on Monday to decide the fate of the city’s market place as the state entered the fourth leg of the lockdown.

“We will ensure the maintenance of social distancing among the people in the market,” Madkaikar said.

The Panaji municipal market complex, however, will continue to have limited accessibility with only garment stores, mobile phone repair shops and shops selling masalas operating within the premises. The vegetable, fruit and coconut vendors will continue to sell their produce from outside the building complex, along the street near Inox theatres. The area had been barricaded to allow shoppers to purchase grocery items without crowding.

“We will decide where to shift the vendors. The onset for monsoon has been forecast for June 10. Until then they will continue to stay outside,” Madkaikar said.

TOI had reported on May 18 that the vendors will be shifted out of the street before monsoons hit the state. The India meteorological department has forecast that the onset of south-west monsoon in Goa is likely to be delayed by a few days this year, arriving at the state by June 10.