The Friday bazaar is one of the big tourist attractions in the north Goa town of Mapusa. Vendors from the region gather on a stretch of land outside the municipal market building here every week to sell traditional articles and food products: spices and pottery, pork sausages and cane baskets.
This is why a plan to redevelop the Mapusa municipal market is at the centre of a growing controversy. Vendors believe they will be shifted out and the traditional Goan character of the market will be lost – as will their livelihoods. But the Mapusa Municipal Council, which owns the land, maintains that it intends to do nothing of the sort. They say the redevelopment is necessary because the area has become dilapidated over the years.
“They have enjoyed the best of premises almost free of cost,” said Sandip Falari, chairperson of the Mapusa Municipal Council. “They are opposing this because their rent will go up. We told them in a press briefing that there won’t be any displacement. Still they’re spreading misinformation, saying that daily vendors will be displaced and livelihoods taken away.”
Flower market
At the heart of the controversy is a building known as the flower market. The flower market was initially meant to be a fish market, but fish vendors began to move out in the 1970s, making way for the flower sellers who still operate there today. It is these flower vendors and shopkeepers that are leading the agitation against the proposed redevelopment.
The flower market building is a low one-storied structure with shops built around a central atrium. Permanent shopkeepers lease their spaces on a three-year basis from the Mapusa Municipal Council. Inside, vendors sit on spots claimed by them on the basis of a daily or monthly rental, called sopo.
“This is a unique market because these products are not available in this quality and variety across Goa,” said Assis Cardozo, a shopkeeper at the Mapusa flower market. Cardozo also represents other vendors in the complex. “Some of the other market buildings need repair, but the flower market is still a very strong and uniquely designed building." Cardozo said the vendors have told the municipal council that instead of demolishing the structure, they want the building to be preserved because of its historical value. Said Cardozo, "It is a heritage building.”
Historical structure?
Market redevelopment plans are a consistent cause for worry among heritage activists. In 2004, when New Market in Kolkata was slated for redevelopment, there were concerns that this would transform the character of the market. Similar objections were raised in Mumbai when a redevelopment plan for Crawford Market suggested altering its façade entirely.
The Mapusa market is not nearly as old as Crawford Market, built in 1869, or New Market, built in 1874. The market was shifted to its present location from an older complex further north in 1961. Falari is right: it is both rundown and congested, with poor drainage. But though it isn’t old, historians believe that it has significant cultural value.
“There is no justification for breaking it,” said Orijit Sen, the Mario Miranda Visiting Research Professor Chair at Goa University, who has been conducting mapping exercises of the market. “One is to increase revenues, but the other could be to remove existing vendors. Many of them are local women, making traditional products. The municipal council probably knows it cannot get more out of them.”
Public review
Conflict erupted when the Mapusa Municipal Council commissioned a master plan to redevelop the cluster of buildings on April 29. The master plan released for public review on August 11 revealed that the council would also rebuild the flower market building in the heart of the market complex. Francis D’Souza, the legislative assembly representative from Mapusa, is also the deputy chief minister of Goa. He has reportedly assured the municipal council that the plan will be funded by the Goa State Urban Development Association.
The master plan for the flower market suggests that it will be rebuilt as a G+1 structure – one that has both a ground and first floor.
“Once the government hands over the market to us, we will have to maintain it,” said Falari. “We cannot raise money for that from taxpayers, so on the first floor of the premises, we will auction some shops and plough that revenue back into the market.”
Shopkeepers fear precisely this – that the flower market will crowd the area further, and also create an influx of migrants.
“The plan shows about 88 shops, double the capacity of this market,” said Cardozo. “We believe this is a way to allow non-Goans to sell stuff here. The Goans of the market will be gone and its traditional look and feel will be destroyed.”
Vendors are isolated
The flower market building vendors possibly stand alone in their agitation, as others in the market are not yet especially concerned about the plan.
“It’s simply daft,” said Yeshwant Gawandalkar, president of the Mapusa Market Association. “The council has not decided anything and is still asking for suggestions from the people. They have just put a first draft in front of everybody.”
“We are not against renovation,” he said. “Let the vendors inside sit properly, let there be proper access for the public, maybe paint it properly, redo the tiling and put up electrical fixtures. But the building should not be demolished.”
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This is why a plan to redevelop the Mapusa municipal market is at the centre of a growing controversy. Vendors believe they will be shifted out and the traditional Goan character of the market will be lost – as will their livelihoods. But the Mapusa Municipal Council, which owns the land, maintains that it intends to do nothing of the sort. They say the redevelopment is necessary because the area has become dilapidated over the years.
“They have enjoyed the best of premises almost free of cost,” said Sandip Falari, chairperson of the Mapusa Municipal Council. “They are opposing this because their rent will go up. We told them in a press briefing that there won’t be any displacement. Still they’re spreading misinformation, saying that daily vendors will be displaced and livelihoods taken away.”
Flower market
At the heart of the controversy is a building known as the flower market. The flower market was initially meant to be a fish market, but fish vendors began to move out in the 1970s, making way for the flower sellers who still operate there today. It is these flower vendors and shopkeepers that are leading the agitation against the proposed redevelopment.
The flower market building is a low one-storied structure with shops built around a central atrium. Permanent shopkeepers lease their spaces on a three-year basis from the Mapusa Municipal Council. Inside, vendors sit on spots claimed by them on the basis of a daily or monthly rental, called sopo.
“This is a unique market because these products are not available in this quality and variety across Goa,” said Assis Cardozo, a shopkeeper at the Mapusa flower market. Cardozo also represents other vendors in the complex. “Some of the other market buildings need repair, but the flower market is still a very strong and uniquely designed building." Cardozo said the vendors have told the municipal council that instead of demolishing the structure, they want the building to be preserved because of its historical value. Said Cardozo, "It is a heritage building.”
Historical structure?
Market redevelopment plans are a consistent cause for worry among heritage activists. In 2004, when New Market in Kolkata was slated for redevelopment, there were concerns that this would transform the character of the market. Similar objections were raised in Mumbai when a redevelopment plan for Crawford Market suggested altering its façade entirely.
The Mapusa market is not nearly as old as Crawford Market, built in 1869, or New Market, built in 1874. The market was shifted to its present location from an older complex further north in 1961. Falari is right: it is both rundown and congested, with poor drainage. But though it isn’t old, historians believe that it has significant cultural value.
“There is no justification for breaking it,” said Orijit Sen, the Mario Miranda Visiting Research Professor Chair at Goa University, who has been conducting mapping exercises of the market. “One is to increase revenues, but the other could be to remove existing vendors. Many of them are local women, making traditional products. The municipal council probably knows it cannot get more out of them.”
Public review
Conflict erupted when the Mapusa Municipal Council commissioned a master plan to redevelop the cluster of buildings on April 29. The master plan released for public review on August 11 revealed that the council would also rebuild the flower market building in the heart of the market complex. Francis D’Souza, the legislative assembly representative from Mapusa, is also the deputy chief minister of Goa. He has reportedly assured the municipal council that the plan will be funded by the Goa State Urban Development Association.
The master plan for the flower market suggests that it will be rebuilt as a G+1 structure – one that has both a ground and first floor.
“Once the government hands over the market to us, we will have to maintain it,” said Falari. “We cannot raise money for that from taxpayers, so on the first floor of the premises, we will auction some shops and plough that revenue back into the market.”
Shopkeepers fear precisely this – that the flower market will crowd the area further, and also create an influx of migrants.
“The plan shows about 88 shops, double the capacity of this market,” said Cardozo. “We believe this is a way to allow non-Goans to sell stuff here. The Goans of the market will be gone and its traditional look and feel will be destroyed.”
Vendors are isolated
The flower market building vendors possibly stand alone in their agitation, as others in the market are not yet especially concerned about the plan.
“It’s simply daft,” said Yeshwant Gawandalkar, president of the Mapusa Market Association. “The council has not decided anything and is still asking for suggestions from the people. They have just put a first draft in front of everybody.”
“We are not against renovation,” he said. “Let the vendors inside sit properly, let there be proper access for the public, maybe paint it properly, redo the tiling and put up electrical fixtures. But the building should not be demolished.”