An earlier attempt at a similar project had ended badly for CCP, so it has placed some checks and balances in this one to ensure it does not suffer a loss. But has the municipal corporation studied the ground situation before rushing into the pay and park system?
There is no argument with the fact that some sort of payment for parking on the streets will have to be imposed. It has been so done at the EDC Patto Plaza complex, where two-wheelers and four-wheelers are all charged, and there has been no refusal from any motorist to the charges. The layout of the complex has ample parking space which is clearly marked and the fees reasonable. Despite having an example of a system that is giving results and has not received any objection, the CCP, in the case of the new pay parking system on the streets of Panjim has taken a very different route and pricing system.
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At the high price of parking that the CCP is now charging, even those who would have no objection to paying to park will hesitate to do so. The outcome of this is likely that the streets where pay parking has been started may get cleared to a limited extent but the other streets where parking is free will get completely congested. This is already visible on some of the streets that connect the 18th June Road to other parallel streets. It is therefore obvious that there has been little planning involved in this project, and CCP may have to review the pricing very soon.
The system has already drawn some objections from those who have offices and business on the 18th June Road, where the pay parking system has been first introduced, before it is spread to other streets. The reasons are simple, as here are persons who would be parking their vehicles for most part of the day on this street and would end up paying around Rs 150 for ten hours, which is quite steep. While there is a pass system that will reduce the charges of parking, will it be possible to ensure that vehicles with passes will get space to park?
Residents of old buildings where parking was not created at the time of construction will get a concession in the form of a free pass per house. Government vehicles will not be charged. One only needs to walk along 18th June Road to see how much of parking space is occupied by government vehicles. Many of the vehicles are parked on Friday evening and remain in the same place till Monday morning, which will deny others a parking space. In the first place, let those who frequent the offshore casinos and who park their vehicles 24×7 on the streets of the State capital be the first to be made to pay for occupying space on the streets.
By all means CCP must charge for parking, but it has to reconsider the rates and the paying capacity of the people. A system as followed at the EDC Patto Plaza will be best suited to be spread to other parts of the city. It will bring revenue to CCP and at the same time it will also streamline the traffic in the city to a large extent.
