MMC dragging feet on erecting traffic sign boards
HERALD REPORTER
MARGAO, NOV 4
Hazard a guess why traffic changes notified by the district Magistrate, South are not put into effect in the Commercial Capital?
Well, the reason is simple: The Margao civic body is dragging its feet to provide the ‘No Parking’ sign boards necessary to implement the traffic measures.
If DySP, Traffic Gajanan Prabhudessai is to be believed, it’s now more than three months since District Magistrate, South, G P Naik had issued a notification for ‘No Parking’ areas across the city. However, the notification has remained just that for want of the sign boards from the Municipal body, he said.
As per the notification, it is the responsibilities of the Margao civic body to make available the sign boards and erect them in areas notified by the district magistrate.
One such spot where no parking of four-wheelers was notified by the district magistrate was the stretch between Royal Foods to Borkar super stores on the congested Pick-stand road.
Till date, however, four-wheelers continue to be parked along the road, adding to traffic congestion.
Incidentally, Chief Minister Digambar Kamat had recently issued strict instructions to the traffic police cell headed by PI Prabodh Shirwaikar to ensure no parking of four-wheelers on the road near Royal Foods. The instructions, however, have also remained on paper with the traffic personnel acting as mute spectators on the pick-up stand road, while four-wheeler owners parking their vehicles right under the nose of the personnel.
Incidentally, when Herald contacted outgoing Margao Municipal Chairperson Savio Coutinho to throw light on the delay in providing the sign boards, he said the Civic body had planned to allot the work of erecting sign boards to a private agency, but the move did not evoke the desired response. He said that the Civic body was looking for sponsors for the sign boards since each sign board costs nothing less than Rs 2000.
It is not known what prevented Chief Officer Prasanna Acharya from taking a decision on making the sign boards to the traffic department in the last one month and half.
