diana fernandes
Campal’s heritage area may have the age old Portuguese houses lined along its streets with a not too welcoming smell of the creek. But another evil has been plaguing this heritage site; that of parking problems. The Campal Residents Association has raised the issue with the Corporation of the City of Panjim (CCP) several times in the past but with over a year of waiting there still seems to be no solution.
Residents of the association presented a pay parking zone based plan to the CCP which was notified last month by North Goa collector Nila Mohanan. Speaking about the future course of action, Panjim Mayor Shubham Chodankar said it would take another month for the required tenders to be released but with no specific timeline in place of when it may be implemented.
But trouble, say residents began a long time ago with the coming of the Campal Trade Centre. Patricia Pinto, a resident and ex councilor at the CCP said since the parking below the building was very scant, people chose to park their cars in the lanes along their homes.
“Ever since doctors, lawyers and other offices began setting up in the trade center whether it’s their patients or clients, they’ve all been parking in front of our houses. There have even been times where we being residents have had to park further away and only when the crowds have cleared, then only can we come and park in front of our houses,” she said.
The increase in four and two wheelers is also seen with events at the nearby Kala Academy and Campal grounds. “Days when schools organize their annual days or if there are any exhibitions or events happening at Kala Academy or the Campal grounds, it is impossible to get parking,” said Pinto adding that cars would line up till the Department of Health Services.
According to the plan, only residents would be allowed to park while anyone that was an outsider would have to pay a certain amount to park their vehicle. The pay parking model was also meant to be implemented among other areas of the city.
A new restaurant in the same area has added to these existing problems. Antonio Pergrino da Costa knows first hand as his house is situated next to the new restaurant.
“It is seen that many times, there are men that stop people from parking in front of their restaurant. I agree we’ve always had problems when it came to parking in this area and the restaurant certainly has increased this pressure,” he said.
The no parking zone on the main road also leads to people looking for parking in the by lanes.
Kabir Pinto Makhija, ex deputy mayor at the CCP acknowledged the problem and said the process was already underway. “The Campal Residents’ Association prepared a pay parking plan for the Campal Heritage Precinct which was submitted to the CCP and subsequently passed at a Council meeting. The CCP in turn submitted this proposal to the North Goa District Collector and the Campal Heritage Precinct has been notified as a pay parking area. It will be implemented at the same time as the rest of the areas within the capital city which have been notified to be made into pay parking zones.”
