As large numbers of vehicles are injected
into the transport system on a regular
basis, the parking problem in the capital
city has reached harrowing proportions. This
problem is further aggravated with the ever increasing
vehicles of casinos customers and
employees, clogging the free parking areas
along all roads adjoining the Mandovi river
front, creating serious parking for the ordinary
citizens.
The major parking areas parallel to the
Mandovi promenade have literally been taken
over by the vehicles of Casinos employees,
customers private vehicles and taxis which ferry
customers, in the absence of designated paid
parking spaces for this purpose.
The Corporation of the City of Panaji and
the Goa Traffic police have failed to resolve the
issue of parking by Casino clients, employees
and taxis. The entrance to Panjim city is cluttered
on both sides of the road by parked two
and four wheelers, causing a nightmare to the
commuters and residents of the St Tome,
Fontainhas area in a siege like situation.
The bulk of the parking problem dogs the
Dayanand Bandodkar road, the Atmaram
Borkar road and Mahatma Gandhi road which
are totally clogged by vehicles from casinos.
The problem is further trickling down, and has
now reached areas such as Campal. The parking
slots remain occupied for 24 hours generally.
But it has been noticed that some vehicle
are permanently parked at the same spot point
for more than two to three days, thus blocking
parking slots and preventing ordinary citizens
from doing their essentially tasks such as shopping
etc.. Office goers and businessmen too
are in Panjim are badly affected by this major
parking issue.
Former Mayor of CCP Surendra Furtado told
Herald that the all casino related vehicles
should be parked at EDC’s Patto Plaza from
evening onwards to avoid congestion in the
city and for smooth flow of traffic. “I don’t understand
what the CCP and Goa government
is doing on the issue of parking, which is aggravated
due to casinos vehicles, in capital city
of Goa” Furtado said.
Parking as a whole has been an issue for
many years and now it is assuming nightmarish
proportions due to Casino customers’ vehicles.
“The only way out in to park the vehicles outside
the city and casinos should ferry their own
customers through their (larger) vehicles instead
of parking vehicles on roads,” said Manoj
Joshi, resident of Panjim.
MLA Panjim Siddharth Kunkolienkar said
that the casinos can now use the new multi
parking structure which is going to be ready
shortly and can ferry their customers from
there, that is one of the options. But he insisted
that ‘we cannot restrict anybody from using
parking slots.’
Many of residents especially those from the
Panjim church area and Fontainhas complain
about the parking problem as the customers
of casinos park their vehicles wherever they
want and even at the entrances of the houses
and the buildings in Panjim’s Latin quarter. As
a result in the morning they cannot manoeuvre
out their vehicle from their own ‘backyard’.‘
Dharmesh Angle, DySP Traffic (North) said
that he has appointed one designated officer
on DBB road just to stop this nuisance of parking
by casino customers during night time.
“Night time we are only concentrating on the
DBB road and one crane is also kept at that
time along with an officer” DySP Angle informed.
However, how effective he has been in
traffic management, can be seen by a late
night visit to these areas, where two and four
wheelers are parked chock-a-block.
