SHWETA KAMAT
shweta@herald-goa.com
Traffic congestion and mismanaged parking facility and long pending issues have been haunting the capital for decades now. With increasing vehicular traffic, growing construction activity, and with entire city land being locked, the Planning Authority has now proposed redevelopment of the old housing colonies with a provision of additional Floor Area Ratio (FAR) to resolve this crisis.
The move, however, has received mixed reactions with certain quarters claiming it as ‘eyewash’ in a bid to attract building lobbies ahead of the 2017 elections, while some say consider it a well thought move if rightly implemented. With roads being narrow and no further provision for expansion, the idea seems to be less effective, also considering the government’s failure to act against those developers who have either failed to reserve underground parking, a mandatory need as per a condition laid in the construction license or with the mentioned space being housed by commercial establishments.
The North Goa Planning and Development Authority (NGPDA) has decided to revise and rectify the seven year old Panjim outline development plan (ODP), proposing redevelopment of old housing colonies with a provision of additional Floor Area Ratio (FAR), provided the first two floors are reserved for parking. The plan is kept open for public suggestions for a period of one month.
“This could be the right move if properly executed. The proposal should not lead to further decongestion of the city. Every foreign country has a policy, wherein after 25-30 years, old buildings are demolished and rebuilt,” founder of Goa ForGiving, Armando Gonsalves mentioned. “But I am against redevelopment of heritage structures,” he added. NGPDA has assured that the heritage houses which are protected under heritage conservation zones would not be touched.
NGPDA’s focus is on 30-40 year old housing colonies which need to be refurbished with proper parking space. Such old structures are located in the interiors of Miramar, Campal, St Inez, Altinho, Mala and Bhatlem. The sub-committee that would be constituted to scrutinize the applications received for rectification of ODP, will be undertaking an exercise to identify the total number of such housing colonies in the city.
“Parking is a major issue in our area. In the colony, each occupant has two cars and two two-wheelers each. There is no proper parking facility. Being an old building, we lack parking. The NGPDA has come up with a good proposal. This will help in creating parking space for at least building occupants or those visiting the place,” Antonio Miranda, a resident of Miramar said.
Meanwhile, activists like Sabina Martins from Goa Bachao Abhiyan (GBA) feels that the move is to attract building lobbies for fund raising during the forthcoming elections. “The reason for opening up ODP is not parking. They wanted to increase the FAR to attract builders and hence the justification given is parking,” she said.
Martins, a city resident from St Inez questions when the government failed to act against builders for violation of construction licenses, how can people trust them now that the two floors would be reserved for parking? “The entire concept is ‘take money-make money’ ahead of the elections,” she said.
“With narrow roads and no scope for expansion, the idea won’t work. Also, with more buildings there would be more migration of people into the city, thereby further congesting it,” she said.
