Members of the South Goa District Road Safety Committee deliberating on issues affecting road safety in the district.
Photo Credits: Santosh Mirajkar
MARGAO
The South Goa District Road Safety Committee on Friday deliberated on key civic and transport issues, with a focus on vehicular parking along roadsides following the proliferation of mega business establishments.
Consumer rights activist Lorna Fernandes led a strong appeal during the meeting—chaired by South Goa Additional Collector Ramesh Gaonkar—urging the authorities to convene a joint session involving the Director of Panchayats and the Director of Urban Development to address concerns over the issuance of trade licences and unregulated parking.
Speaking to the media after the meeting, Lorna said that the power to issue trade licences rests with local bodies, including municipalities and panchayats. However, she noted that these bodies are often left powerless once building plans are approved by the Town and Country Planning Department.
“The Director of Urban Development has made it amply clear that the local bodies have no jurisdiction to deny licences to business establishments if the building plans are approved by the Town and Country Planning Department,” Lorna said.
“After the deliberations, the Committee has decided to invite the Senior Town Planner and other officials to the next meeting of the District Road Safety Committee to brief the members over the legal provision on issuing licences to business establishments,” she added.
The committee also discussed the rising number of hit-and-run incidents, especially in relation to compensation for victims. “The accident victim cannot go after the insurance companies for compensation in hit-and-run cases when the accused person who has caused the accident is not traced,” Lorna said. “It has been decided to set up a committee headed by the District Collector to address the issue of providing compensation to victims of hit-and-run cases,” she added.
Another point of concern raised at the meeting was the need to establish school-level committees to monitor the safety and regulation of student transport, whether via public buses or private vehicles. The panel also called upon the Public Works Department (PWD) to deploy patrol vehicles to take action against illegal roadside vending along highways.
Additionally, the committee took stock of the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) related to stray cattle management. Members demanded clarity on the MoU’s provisions and the actions being taken by the concerned departments to address the growing stray cattle menace in the district.
