Over 3 decades of planning and promising a solution to the parking problems of the commercial capital of Goa – Margao – hasn’t changed anything in favour of the pay parking project of the maximum town. Margao has been through an age which saw huge roads and hardly 3 or 4 vehicles plying on it and the age of today which has thousands of vehicles plying on it daily and over 500 cars not able to find a parking spot in the town. MMC officials have informed that this parking project has been caught up at Panjim for technical clearances.
The corner stone for the multi-storeyed parking project at the old fish market area was laid amidst a lot of politics. The project was worth almost Rs 6 crore back when the plan was revealed. It was planned to accomodate180 to 200 cars in a total area of 4800 sq mts. On 15thAugust 2015, the project was earmarked to be completed in 2 years and according to the MMC, it was ideated to decongest the town and accommodate 30% of the parking around the town area.
Former Margao MLA Babu Naik had planned an identical car park in the year 1979. Sadly, it is now observed that the project may not see the light of the day even in 2016 as the parking project is still awaiting technical clearance. The Municipal Engineer who is at the helm of affairs of the projects of the MMC said, “The file of the parking project was sent to the Chief Engineer of the PWD in Panjim as soon as the foundation stone was laid. It has been over 5 to 6 months that the file is there. The civil work clearances have been done and now we are awaiting electrical work clearances from the PWD. We have been sending compliance to all the queries raised by the department.”
However, serious questions are being raised over the delay in the project. Why has the project not started even after so many months of inauguration? Is there no one who is taking the initiative on this front? Even after technical clearance, why is the project not moving at a faster pace? These are some of the questions being raised by the general public every time they are inconvenienced for parking in Margao.
The Police Inspector of the traffic section of Margao, Mohan Gaude, when contacted by Herald informed, “We have sent a proposal to the District Collector and to MMC to remove the abandoned vehicles from all over Margao. These are vehicles which are taking up space unnecessarily. The traffic cell has identified over 54 such vehicles and has sent a petition to the MMC to take further action soon. The Chief Officer has informed us that he will be drawing notices to all these abandoned vehicles soon.”
The traffic section has been issuing over 100 challans daily for irregular and improper parking all over the town. “These are the vehicles which are causing high degrees of congestion and chaos. If we become strict, there will be more such vehicles which may be fined or towed away in the future,” Gaude said.
The PI also said that traffic signages need to be updated as it gets difficult to keep traffic discipline without them. The workshops which operate on the sides of roads and causing a hindrance to the traffic are also proposed to be removed by the traffic cell. The mechanics near Clube Harmonia and behind the police station are some of the places which the police are eying to clear.
Margao presently has over 500 vehicles wrongly parked every single day. Lakhs of rupees are collected from people against fines for parking. However there is no place where people can actually go and park their vehicles. Several commercial buildings are also adding to the traffic load. There was a violent argument between the MMC workers and people a week ago wherein people vented their anger at the workers for picking their 2 wheelers from no park zones. “If this is a no parking zone, then where is the board prohibiting parking here? If this is no parking then where are the designated parking spaces?” asked some men whose vehicles were taken away by the MMC workers.
The new council has a difficult task to first get the open land of the MMC in control and then convert them into much needed parking places with a revenue plan too which now looks to be a difficult task.
