‘Park outside, Walk inside’, King Shalom’s message while his rule ends
GOANEWS DESK, PANAJI | 09 February 2016 17:42 IST
May it be the Carnival and Shigmo parades or rallies and processions of religious or political bodies, it’s fun for those who participate and an irritant for those who don’t, especially when they are held in Goa’s major towns.
Reason? Traffic congestion! Or should we call it a float of different models of vehicles?
And it’s a daily headache in the four major towns of Goa – Panaji, Mapusa, Margao and Vasco, at office and school hours - morning, afternoon and evening.
Upset with the scenario was even the King Momo, who came to rule Goa for only four days, during Carnival.
In Margao, Shalom Sardinha had to take a lift from a young biker, who dropped him at his front float; so congested were the roads.
While he places down his crown, Sardinha spoke his heart to goanews.com, to overcome the daily headache of congested towns.
He suggests two multi-storeyed parking bays at both the ends of congested towns, to begin with from Panaji.
“Build two multi-storeyed parking bays in Panaji, one at Patto and the other at Campal and let the people travel in battery-powered carts of eight seats or more”, he suggests.
He even suggests no-vehicle zones in commercially crowded streets like 18th June Road in Panaji or Station Road in Margao.
“Let the people walk on the streets which are crowded”, suggests 35-year old mechanical consultant.
He feels parking bays could be guarded by security guards as well as CCTV cameras while people pay minimum fees like Rs 10 for two hours.
Goa’s traffic police cell, which struggles every time to ease the traffic at such parades and rallies, welcomes these suggestions, but with a pinch of salt.
The figures they provide of traffic are mind-boggling.
In one Panaji city, 90,000 vehicles enter every day on normal days while the city – including the Patto Plaza – has a parking space only for 5500 two-wheelers and 2300 four-wheelers.
It’s not even 10% of the total vehicles entering the city.
And by 9 in the morning, almost all the parking spaces in Panaji get full.
A senior traffic controller poses several questions, while fully supporting King Momo’s suggestions:
Where will the residents of old buildings park their vehicles, which are increasing every day?
What to do when the shopkeepers bring their four-wheelers in the market and park it for the whole day?
Where to park the newly entering vehicles when office-goers park their vehicles at KTC bus stand in Margao or Panaji and catch the buses, to come back in the evening?
Where to find new parking lots when no land is frozen in any city of Goa while vehicles are increasing uncontrollably?
The only practical solution the traffic controllers find in such a situation is little revised version of what the King Momo suggests:
‘Park outside and Walk inside’ the city. Provide battery-powered vehicles only for the old, disabled, distressed and needy people.
But who will walk this talk? Nobody. In this matter, it’s Carnival in Goa for 365 days!!!
