TUESDAY, APRIL 23, 2024
Team Herald
PANJIM: For years now, residents of Panjim, Goa’s capital city have been facing constant issues when it comees to finding parking in front of their own houses or in their own neighbourhood.
This is their reality where they have to fend for themselves despite having been promised solutions umpteen times or having made repeated complaints to the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) via their respective councillors.
During the final meeting of CCP’s last council in mid-February, 2021, a long-pending proposal was discussed wherein tax-paying residents of the buildings/ houses located in the pay parking areas in the city would be given a pass to park one vehicle each. Shopkeepers would not get this benefit or residents of buildings that had built-in parking areas.
At this meeting, the issues faced by the residents were highlighted and former councillor Soraya Pinto Makhija, who incidentally was part of the ruling panel, had asked when the pass system would be put in place.
Former Mayor Uday Madkaikar had given a tentative deadline of 15 days for it to begin.
More than 150 days have passed but there is still no sight of the proposal that has been deliberately put on the back burner.
Sources told Herald that this issue came up at the last CCP meeting and that the Deputy Mayor Vasant Agshikar was in favour of providing these passes but the Mayor Rohit Monserrate declined to take this initiative forward.
Sources stated that the stumbling block is what happens to the parking space when vacated by the resident and if such a space can be designated for parking for the entire 24 hours.
When the Panjim Mayor Monserrate was contacted, he indicated that CCP doesn’t intend to implement this anytime soon but said that the issue would have to be discussed with the traffic police to see that residents are not troubled.
Deputy Mayor Vasant Agshikar assured that residents do not have to pay for parking in front of their own houses and indicated that residents would eventually get the aforementioned passes.
However, with the proposals remaining in theory only, residents rue the fact that neither the pay parking system run by CCP nor the multi-pay parking facility run by the Tourism Department has brought them any respite. There are still issues of double parking and of vehicles from outside the city being parked for days continuously on some roads.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Leader Valmiki Naik pointed out that Panjim bears the brunt of the parking and traffic chaos due to the massive increase in traffic and that the capital city is a hub of government offices and tourism activities.
He referred to decongestion and draft parking policies that were made in the last decade, which were also submitted for the Smart City project..
“As per these documents, roadside parking was to be properly delineated, and residents and shop owners were to be given free parking, with ability to purchase additional spaces at a discounted rate. No resident or shop owner has received this pass, and are being forced to buy a parking pass at an exhibit at cost. This is nothing but a scam, given the rates being charged and the way the execution was handed to a favoured private contractor,” said Valmiki.
Valmiki further questioned why multi-level parking structures were not constructed at strategic places within the city to provide additional parking capacity. He criticised the BJP government for constructing the parking structure outside the city, which is gatheirng dust while the locals continue to suffer.
Former Panjim Mayor and opposition corporator Surendra Furatdo added that these days he has been flooded with complaints of residents regarding the ‘costly’ pay parking scheme.
He recalled the suggestions he had made for a far cheaper pay parking rates.
“However to give relief to the Panjim Residents under my low-fee regime and later on under the expensive-fee regime of Uday Madkaikar ,both of us during our Mayorship had taken the decision to give a monthly complimentary parking pass to the residents residing under the jurisdiction of the CCP areas,” said Furtado.
“This is yet to materialise under the Panjim MLA/Mayorship regime in spite of the decision being approved by the CCP and the State government. Residents are having problems finding free parking for their vehicles as it is in the capital city and they have to pay exorbitant fees,” he lamented further pointing out that there have been several follow ups on the issue.
He demanded to know when the system would be implemented and when Panjim/CCP residents would get relief.
Former corporator Meneni Da Cruz like Furtado questioned why the Panjim MLA Atanasio Monserrate and Panjim Mayor were against implanting such a system.
“This was already approved by the earlier council. Who is the delay supposed to benefit. Should this system be benefitting the contractor or the public? Like this there are so many other promises that were made but have never become reality and in the end it is the public who have to suffer,” Menino added.
Former Panjim MLA and BJP leader Sidharth Kunkolienkar concurred that the pass system is the need of the hour.
“CCP should not levy any parking charges on already created and paid for facilities like roads, etc (road tax is paid by every vehicle owner for using the road for driving as well as parking). The parking levy should be imposed for new dedicated parking lots that need to be created on public private spaces. Only then this issue can be resolved for residents and shopkeepers,” said Kunkolienkar.
