It indeed is a welcoming move to deploy 800 traffic police personnel around the State on the backdrop of Christmas and New Year’s celebrations to decongest the roads. This will reduce the time motorists spend in traffic by at least 30 to 45 minutes, from one to one and a half hours. Presently, the roads in North Goa – especially Anjuna, Vagator, Siolim and Calangute – are witnessing the traffic snarls daily. This stress will only increase during the end of the month, once the Sunburn festival begins.
Senior police officials have assured that DySPs, PIs and other officers will be on duty 24×7, which may provide a huge relief to the visitors. However, this planning is limited only to the festive and peak season. What will happen after that? Central Minister Nitin Gadkari who was on a visit to Goa stated that the work on a 5 km-long flyover connecting Socorro to Porvorim will commence soon. Although, as per the tender, the project will take two years to complete, it will not take an expert to tell that the actual period will be much longer. Therefore, the traffic congestion in the area will only become more chaotic in the near future. It takes an hour, on an average, for people to squeeze out of the traffic jam at Porvorim, and on weekends it is way more than an hour. Ofcourse, the alternate service roads will be built before the commencing of the flyover’s construction, but there is no denying that it’ll still add tremendous stress on the traffic.
On an average, around 50,000 vehicles pass via Porvorim every day and the reason why it has become a task for the traffic police is because there is lack of planning. Population, cities and the number of vehicles will keep on increasing, which is why planning in advance to combat these issues is essential. Building a strong, able public transport system is one of the solutions. The population of Goa has crossed the 1.5 million mark, and to add to this number there are at least one or two two-wheelers, besides four-wheelers, in every household. It’s fairly easy to imagine how busy the Goan roads must be with so many vehicles as well as the vehicles driven by the tourists. The Chief Minister has appealed to the people not to venture out of their houses for no valid reason. This means that the deployment of 800 police personnel will not guarantee less traffic congestion either.
Although the second phase of new Zuari bridge has been opened for vehicular traffic, the overall number of travelling hours will decrease only when the signal system at Verna is fixed. Currently, there is no relief for those who have to pass via the Verna junction. This is the reason Goa needs a capable public transport system, a lack of which prompts people to take out their own vehicles. It is obvious to note that people do not use their own vehicles by spending a fortune on fuel just for fun. Who would not want to save some extra money? Although the Department of Transport has informed the Public Works Department regarding the need for a multi-storied parking space, there is a huge question mark over when the project will actually take off.
A scheme was introduced a few years ago to reduce the number of vehicles entering Panaji city. The drivers would have to park their vehicles at the multi-level pay-parking facility situated at the entrance of the city, who then would be given a coupon with a validity of one day. Using this coupon, the motorist could use the bus service to move around the city throughout the day. Sadly, this scheme stayed only on paper. The Monorail project too did not move an inch. According to the Chief Minister, projects worth Rs 25,000 crore are underway while more projects worth Rs 10,000 crore are proposed. The Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, has promised to implement these projects soon. Goa is the smallest State in the country, with an annual budget of barely Rs 28,000 crore. The State’s revenue income has been hampered by various factors post-pandemic and it is an open secret that Goa has to rely on help from the Centre inorder to complete the projects. However, the State government must prioritise the traffic congestion which is intensifying with every passing day. Not only Porvorim, Calangute, Baga, Siolim and Anjuna, but Margao, South Goa’s economic capital, too is suffering from the similar difficulty.
Many pending works related to the Smart City project are also adding to the traffic woes. The government must understand the gravity of the issue and should find proper solutions. Spain’s Barcelona is a great example of problem solving in relation to traffic decongestion. All the parking lots in the city have been transformed into amusement parks for children, while the building provides underground parking space for vehicles. Today, one cannot spot unnecessary vehicles on Barcelona’s streets. The government should take assistance from technical experts if needed to ease the life of the common people. There is always a way if there is a will.
