Is the Cujira school complex turning out to be the wrong remedy for the congestion problem in Panaji? A recent statement by Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar that school timings would have to be staggered at the complex to reduce congestion there, is a clear indication that as more schools move to
Cujira, the traffic problems are going to get worse. There were a lot of schools in the city which had to move out because they had insufficient infrastructure and no place to expand. But the ideal of putting all of them in one complex, which was considered a stroke of genius when it was first envisaged, has thrown
up challenges which the government is yet to address.
While staggering of timings seems logical, getting children
to school at 7.30 in the morning in order to make it work is
going to put enormous pressure on the students as well as parents.
It is now apparent that no planning went into how students
would enter and exit the complex. This is a problem that
the government and traffic experts should have solved before
the complex was thrown open and it is unfair to place this burden
of failure on students, who will have to wake up earlier in
order to make the system work.
