PANAJI: Acting on the strict direction of Fisheries Minister Vinod Palyekar, the directorate of fisheries on Thursday issued a notice to the Mandovi Fisherman Cooperative Society to clear all illegal stalls or encroachments from the Malim-Betim fishing jetty.
“A notice has been sent to the Mandovi Fisherman Cooperative Society asking it to clear all the encroachments from the Malim jetty with immediate effect,” said a senior official of the fisheries department.
Palyekar on Wednesday had directed officials of the fisheries directorate to clear the fishing jetty off illegal stalls of migrants who encroached upon the government land to put them up.
Only those illegal stalls would be cleared which have been put up on the land of the fisheries department, the official clarified adding that removal of other illegal stalls along the roadside would have to be taken up by other concerned authorities.
“We have come to know after a preliminary inquiry that many fish vendors sell fish to locals inside the premises of the Malim jetty, which is against the law…. we have directed the Mandovi Fisherman Cooperative Society to identify such law violators and evict them. If the society fails to do so then the department on its own will initiate an action against the fish vendors,” the official said.
Palyekar has ruled out involvement of any official of the fisheries department in the rise of illegal stalls at the jetty.
“If illegal shades and stalls are not cleared then we will confiscate them and an action as per the law of the land will be initiated by the department,” Palyekar warned.