PANJIM: As the year 2021 draws to a close, the City of the Corporation of Panjim (CCP) has failed to deliver on the promise made to the residents of the capital city of providing them with passes to park their vehicles in front of their houses.
Incidentally, at the last meeting of the previous CCP council, former councillor Soraya Pinto Makhija had urged CCP to start giving out passes before the new council was elected.
Soon after the new CCP council was elected in March 2021, this proposal was put on the backburner and not taken forward. After a huge outcry over the delay from the public and CCP’s opposition councillors, the CCP council in its August meeting decided to implement the proposal and start the process of surveying the houses that did not have inbuilt parking and needed such passes.
On Thursday, December 30, Panjim Deputy Mayor Vasant Agshikar confirmed that the passes are not yet distributed but said that this should be done as soon as possible.
He attributed the delay to some technical hurdles that they were stuck with which prevented them from processing the matter.
He stressed that the residents are not being charged for parking vehicles on their streets. Residents on the other hand are unhappy as the festive time has seen a surge of tourists visiting Panjim and they are finding it difficult not only to park in front of their own houses but sometimes even to leave the areas as the roads are blocked.
“The CCP under new Mayor Rohit Monserrate is in a mess. Nothing seems to be moving in the proper direction. Only assurances are given but no one is following it up. They get up only when we shout at the monthly meetings,” said former CCP Mayor Surendra Furtado.
Citizens for Democracy’s (CFD) Elvis Gomes had also criticised the CCP that collaborates with the Smart City project for the haphazard parking issues in Panjim, especially due to people visiting casinos that inconvenience the residents.
