Report and pics: Lenny Barretto
Daijiworld Media Network - Goa (MB)

Panaji, Sep 13: Parking woes eat up majority of mind-space of the four-wheeler driver when he drives down to Panaji city.

At times, owning a four-wheeler becomes a headache as the city is getting increasingly congested. After entering the city, the first problem that a car-owner faces is as to where to park. The spaces are either full with parked vehicles or civic bodies continue digging.

A slight adventure in 'no parking' zone can dig a big hole in your pocket. Often, you end up paying sums ranging from Rs 100 to Rs 300 to the traffic cop. It’s not just that; you have to walk all the way to the traffic police station to pay the fine which consumes your time.

Creation of more parking spaces is not a matter of priority for corporation of city of Panaji. Neither the traffic police nor the corporation really bothers about attending to this grave problem.

"People in increasing numbers are buying vehicles," is the lame excuse rendered by the cops whenever they are asked about parking. The corporation officials repeat the line unmindful of the fact that both of them are government bodies and it is for the government to regulate the sale of vehicles.

There is a saying, "You can’t stop eating fish because there are bones in it". The same goes here - "You can’t stop buying a car because there are no parking spaces".

It is the corporation’s duty to provide more parking spaces. Forget about providing more spaces, the least the corporation can do is liberate those already available spaces from their experiments with gutter-digging or cable-laying.

The corporation, if just for two days can start an exercise to clean up the parking spaces, it will open up more places for vehicles.

Panaji’s situation is turning grim. The footpath running between Old Goa Medical college and Panaji market is turned into a parking lot by the vehicle-owners. The rustic look, which once this footpath wore, has gone off. The place is full of potholes.

It is the high time for the police and the corporation to pull up their socks or else people will be forced to park their vehicles in no parking zones.