MARGAO: Lack of parking space in Margao forces visitors coming to the city keep their vehicles in any available space by the roadside only to be penalised by the police for unauthorized parking.
Margao may the commercial hub for South Goa, but parking of vehicles is a definitely a big problem here with people struggling to find space and the city fathers failing to solve the issue.
From January to May this year, police stations in Salcete have booked 4042 traffic offenders of which 1061 cases were booked by the Margao police. Those included penalities imposed for unauthorised parking
“What one needs is a designated place for parking in the city . In the abscene of adequate parking space, where do we park our vehicles then,” Ramesh Naik, a senior citizen who had come for a health check questioned and wondered how the police could penalise anyone for parking vehicles in unauthorised places when the Margao Municipal Council had made no provisions for a parking lot.
“The authorities turn a blind eye to encroachments by the roadside , but they are unnecessarily harassing the common man,” said Mohan Velip , an employee in a private firm and stated that cops , home guards and even security guards posted on duty hound people away even from areas meant for parking and added that there was no one to question them.
“The vehicle population has gone up by ten fold in Salcete but without a corresponding parking zone,Velip stated. Sources reveal that hawker zones are not created by the civic boday and proposals to create multi-level parking lie in the cold storage.
Prominent citizens say that the permanent solution lies in creating cellar parking, organised road-side parking on hourly payment basis, creation of hawker zones and constructing multi-level parking facilities.
It is pertinent to note that Margao being the commercial hub, thousands of people flock to city every day, however due to lack of parking spaces, they park their vehicles at any available place only to be penalised by the cops.
