Although the Corporation of the City of
Panjim (CCP) has said that it will implement pay parking at 18 places in the
capital city, including the busy 18th June Road and Church Square from
September 15, the Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG) has converted the parking
space at INOX into a pay parking zone, since last week. The rather unwelcome
change, as most moviegoers put it, has resulted in patrons now parking their
vehicles outside the parking zone, at times alongside the road that leads to
the market, to avoid paying extra bucks, adding to the existing parking woes of
Panjim. Also, questions are being asked on whether or not it is alright to put
that ‘little extra’ burden on the common man who already pays over Rs 200 for
his movie at INOX – a figure that is way higher than what other movie theatres
charge anywhere in the state.
Rajan Satardekar, CEO of ESG, says, “We had
been wanting to convert the parking space into a pay parking zone for about a
year now, but we have started implementing it since last week. The revenue
generated from the parking space at Inox comes back to ESG. People who used to
come to the Panjim market and other nearby places used to park in the Inox
parking space, leaving no room for cine-goers to park their vehicles. The
people are happy with the change. It is not the question of fair or bad. It is
the fee for parking. Even if you go to Mumbai, or any city, one has to cough up
about Rs 50 even to park under the bridge.”
Udit Golechha, a regular at INOX, feels
that the move is ridiculous. Udit says, “ESG has such a big complex, they
should give free parking space for moviegoers. The solution is not in charging
extra bucks for parking but in making it mandatory for people to show their movie
tickets to security guards while leaving the complex.”
The parking issues in Panjim have been
troubling its residents for quite some time now. But a majority of people feel
that coming up with an idea that may add to the woes instead of solving the issue
is only going to increase the problems further.
