Team Herald
PONDA: The Ponda Municipal Council (PMC) on Friday decided to introduce 'pay and park' system in the town from January 2025 to resolve the chronic parking issue in the town.
Ponda is facing problems due to haphazard parking on both sides of the road. According to the PMC authorities, the government has notified the pay parking areas to solve this teething problem.
PMC Chairperson Anand Naik said that a meeting with Agriculture Minister Ravi Naik, along with all stakeholders including officials of Traffic Police, Sewage, PWD and others was held to ensure that roads are not dug once the pay parking system is initiated.
“To ensure discipline, pay parking would be implemented at various places, including Maruti Temple, Varkhandem; Tisk Ponda; Ponda bus stand; market area etc. Haphazard parking is causing traffic congestion in the town,” Anand Naik said.
Hundreds of people from Ponda taluka who come to the town for administrative work at government offices and shopping in the market, face parking problems daily.
The rates for parking have been finalised. For the first hour, two-wheelers will be charged Rs 5 and the same amount will be charged every subsequent hour. Similarly, for cars, Rs 10 will be charged in the first hour and the same amount would be for every subsequent hour. PMC identified around 1500 parking lots - 600 for cars and 900 for two-wheelers.
Currently, parking for long hours by some of the vehicle owners causes a shortage of parking spaces.
The PMC Chairperson said that once the pay parking system is implemented, it should not be disrupted due to road digging for development works.