Since the past decade, Ponda has been running out of space to accommodate the growing number of vehicles. The town is grappling with the growing number of vehicles as traffic snarls have become a regular feature in the already congested town.
The main problem the town has to cope up with is the location of the fire station, the complex housing various government departments, the court and RTO buildings within a radius of half kilometre from the Ponda bus stand.
Besides this, due to space constraints, pedestrians are forced to walk along the road as most footpaths are used by motorists to park their vehicles and at times, some vehicles are parked along the roadside, which further obstructs the smooth flow of traffic.
During peak hours, traffic jams are order of the day as there is no proper provision for car and bike parking in most buildings situated near roadside.
Locals allege that some builders have violated the rules by converting their parking lots into shops. They have called upon the Ponda Municipal Council (PMC) to look into the matter and take strict action and ensure parking space for the public.
They have further urged the PDA and PMC not to grant permission to construct buildings along the roadside without parking provisions due to traffic congestion in the town.
At Dada Vaidya Chowk, several two-wheelers are seen parked along the roadside almost the entire day by government and private office staff and this further aggravates the traffic scenario in the town. When people come for their daily shopping, they are forced to park their vehicles in front of the Ponda fire station or near the culvert at the Ponda bus stand.
One can bear witness to the vehicles parked in the “No Parking Zone”. This has attracted lots of fines by the RTO authorities but to no avail. Due to limited space public are forced to park vehicles wherever space is available including “No Parking Zones”.
PMC chairperson Radhika Naik said, “To solve parking problem, PMC is taking various measures and is considering a multilevel parking project in the town, which will be taken up soon. The formal inauguration of the same was done recently by Deputy Chief Minister Francis D’Souza. Besides the parking project, several other projects such as development of a municipal garden, a city sports and recreation centre, Shastri mall by demolishing the old Shastri hall building and construction of underpass at St Anne’s Church will be taken up to facilitate the public to cross the road during funeral processions in a bid to solve the traffic woes.
Milind Madgut, a resident of Upper Bazaar, said, “Parking and traffic congestion are the main problems in the town and candidates, who will be contesting in the forthcoming election, should include the issue in their manifesto on priority by taking the locals into confidence. Increasing number of bikes and cars has added to the parking problems as there is limited space in the town. Many buildings have been constructed without providing parking space, which is mandatory and that commercial and residential complexes should provide parking facilities and this is the only solution to the problem.”
“The available parking space in market complex building is unutilised due to lack of political will. People are reluctant to park their vehicles in the basement and use the main road near the project to park their vehicles thereby causing traffic congestion in the area. A traffic policeman should be stationed in the area on a permanent basis to monitor the situation and direct the people to use the market complex basement to park their vehicles, Madgut added.
