The Port town of Vasco is blessed with vital institutions like the Mormugao port, Dabolim International Airport, Defence establishments, South Western Railway and various other industrial units and thus it is regarded as Goa’s most planned city. However, when it comes to traffic, it has always remained backward due to the non-implementation of the effective traffic management plan to ease congestion.
In the past, State government authorities, with the initiative of the local legislator made a few efforts to implement the traffic management plan. The only hiccup was taking the people and shopkeepers into confidence and ultimately, the plan was never met with success. “Vasco is not as big as other cities or towns in Goa. Therefore, implementing the traffic plan would certainly help authorities streamline the movement of vehicles, thereby reducing accidents. The movement of heavy traffic, mainly to and from the port and other establishments, including oil companies can be controlled only with the establishment of a proper plan and cannot be done if the leaders only make fake promises. They need to act on this matter. In the absence of proper implementation of a plan, citizens are losing their lives on the road,” said Social Activist from Vasco, Preetam Keluskar.
As per statistics available from the office of the Asst director of Transport, Vasco, every month approximately 500 two-wheelers and 100 four-wheelers get registered directly at the Vasco RTO office. Besides that, the showrooms also register vehicles. Hence, there is an addition of about 8000 new vehicles every year due to which, the pressure on the road has vastly increased.
Similarly, the rise in the number of vehicles has caused parking problems. “Vasco has FL Gomes Road, Swatantra Path and other internal roads which are used for parking of vehicles. However, as there is no pay-parking system in effect by the authorities, vehicles are seen parked at every street and corner, which adds to congestion,” Prathamesh Parab, a Vasco resident said.
Presently, FL Gomes Road is being used for the movement of heavy vehicles. But due to the increase in traffic, even this road is lying in a congested state, especially during peak hours. “The parking of vehicles – whether two or four wheelers and heavy vehicles, including trucks, tankers, trailers and buses which are plying on various roads in the town have become a headache. With the development of the port, the economy of Vasco has boomed, but due to non-implementation of an effective traffic plan, Vasco remains backward,” said another resident, Pratik Naik.
Interestingly, during every elections, including the last council elections, the leaders assure that they will prioritise the preparing and implementation of a proper traffic management plan. However, after getting elected, the issue is given last preference. Sadly, not a single councillor from Vasco civic body till date has raised the issue in council meetings. Even during the ‘Battle for Vasco’ debate organized by Herald and HCN, Mormugao Municipal Council Chairperson, Deepak Naik publically assured that he would put together a team to ensure that the traffic management plan is prepared and implemented. He also assured that he would call for a joint meeting with all stakeholders to take the issue to its logical conclusion.
However, even after two months of his assurances, not a single meeting on the issue has been held till date, for which the people of the port town have been demanding an explanation from the Chairperson. “We thought that the way our Chairperson promised us a proper traffic management plan, he would do something about it. However, now we feel that it was just a political statement delivered at the time. He, being the first citizen of the town should explain why he failed to fulfill his assurance which doesn’t need money, but only smart planning by experts collectively,” said John D’Silva, a resident of Baina, Vasco.
Herald contacted MMC Chairperson, Deepak Naik for his views on the matter. He said, “I understand that there has been some delay. However, one should understand that we are first trying to streamline parking, by notifying all internal roads as one ways, notifying parking zones, no entry zones, separate two wheeler and four wheeler parking etc. Due to some technical issues, the process is yet to be completed. In a month’s time, things will fall into place.”
