‘Beautifying square in Panaji will increase parking woes in city’

PANAJI: The Imagine Panaji Smart City Development Limited’s (IPSCDL) proposal for beautification and pedestrianisation of the square near Café Bhonsle in Panaji city met with strong opposition from vendors and citizens who questioned the government’s priorities in providing piecemeal solutions instead of long-term solutions to issues plaguing the state capital.

The project, aiming at pedestrianisation, will do away with 175 parking spaces for two wheelers and 40 spaces for four wheelers.
Stating that this will only add to the parking problem, citizens at the public consultation told chief executive officer and managing director, IPSCDL, Swayandipta Pal Chaudhuri on Wednesday that the authorities should not go ahead with the project before addressing the issue of congestion in the city.
Citizens complained of time and money wasted in searching for parking slots which are often occupied by tourists taxis. They appealed to the government to relocate them and pointed out that the multi-level parking complex isn’t being used by tourists taxis especially those ferrying people to the offshore casinos. Others complained of large parking spaces opposite Hotel Mandovi being used as private parking spaces.
Soter D’Souza asked Chaudhuri for the criteria by which it chose to develop the square near Café Bhonsle instead of Azad Maidan or any other place in Panaji. If pedestrianisation is to be encouraged, the pavements need to be barrier-free, he said.
No amount of parking slots will be sufficient, the public argued, and urged the government to address the problem of people shunning public transport. Avertino Miranda said the root cause of the parking problem is the poor public transportation system and highlighted the need for last mile transport.
Another citizen stressed the importance of a clear cut transport system. “People use their own vehicles out of necessity not choice,” she said, adding that if there was a quick and rapid transport system connecting residential areas with places of work and the market place, nobody would feel the need to travel in their own vehicles.
The public present also warned the government not to waste money on beautification until the basic infrastructure in the city is in place.
Prasad Amonkar raised pressing issues of drains being choked and the St Inez nullah overflowing during high tide. Antonio Gomes Pereira suggested that a comprehensive plan for the infrastructure of the city be put in place before beautification projects are taken up. “Everything else can follow,” he said.
Dr Nandkumar Kamat said the views of citizens who have lived in the city for decades need to be taken into consideration. He said instead of discussing the project about the square, citizens should have been given options of other areas that they could narrow down on.