It was in 2004, when the first Mayor of the city. Ashok Naik and his council took a resolution that space in Panjim market, currently occupied by the Army for their 2 Signal Training Centre (2STC) be returned to the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) to whom it actually belongs. Since then, the resolution remained just a resolution, until Surendra Furtado took over in 2013. He left no stone unturned to get back the land given by the State to the Defence.
But now, Union Defence Minister, Manohar Parrikar – a long standing city MLA of the BJP convinced his ministry to give back the land, opening up a space for a four-wheeler parking facility.
Since 2004, the CCP has been fighting to take over the land which is 4,969 sq mts in size to utilize for the multi-storey car parking in a bid to decongest the city. Prior to the liberation of Goa in 1961, the land in the heart of this city was in the possession and ownership of the erstwhile Camara Municipal de Goa, which was converted to Panjim Municipal Council and now known as CCP. However, ever since the liberation, the land has been in the possession of 2STC. It is an under-utilized parking facility for military vehicles which prevents locals from parking their vehicles even outside the premises.
“The Goa government while allotting the extra land at Bambolim to the Defence forces during the tenure of Pratapsingh Rane as Chief Minister, had made it a pre-condition that the land occupied by the Army at Panjim would be vacated and handed over to the then Panjim Municipal Council, the original owners of this land,” former BJP Mayor Naik, told Herald.
Naik said that during his tenure in 2004, a unanimous resolution was passed to take back the land and accordingly a letter was forwarded to the State government. “We had also submitted a memorandum to then Union Defence Minister George Fernandes and Goa MP John Fernandes,” he recalled.
Post that, the issue stood neglected, both by the CCP and the State government. It was in 2013, when Furtado took over as Mayor that he pursued the matter with much seriousness. Under him, the CCP had, on July 31, 2013 unanimously resolved that the space presently occupied by the army near the municipal market be returned to the Corporation. A unanimous resolution was passed to make a request to the Defence Ministry to return the land so that it could be utilized for a multi-level car parking.
Furtado’s first letter as Mayor was sent on September 6, 2013 to Chief Minister (then) Manohar Parrikar and Union Defence Minister (former) A K Antony, requesting the vacation of the military from the area. However, he failed to get any response.
With Parrikar taking over as Defence Minister, Furtado in November 2014 wrote to him informing him about the resolution taken in July 2013 to approach the Union Defense Ministry to transfer the land back to the corporation. “The only response I got from there was that he has received my request,” Furtado said.
Pointing out that the military has been given a huge expanse of land at Bambolim, he reiterated that the 2STC be shifted there, giving more parking space. “I have been of the firm view that 4000sq mtrs area can be used in a better way. It will make parking in the city much easier,” he said.
Both former Mayors were of the view that the space be utilized for four wheeler parking, considering the ever increasing vehicular traffic with a lack of parking space.
