MARGAO
As shoppers from Salcete made a beeline for shopping in the commercial capital ahead of the Christmas festivities, the city has witnessed bumper-to-bumper traffic on Monday, leaving the traffic cops struggling to regulate traffic.
As traffic snarls hit the Margao roads on Monday, with the rush expected to peak in the coming days, coupled with the fact that vehicle owners were left to fend for themselves in the absence of parking amenities in the commercial capital, questions came to the fore over the fate of the Master Plan that had promised to resolve the traffic issues plaguing the city.
The failure to put the multi-storied parking lot in place till date has also raised questions over the seriousness by the Margao Municipality to resolve the burning parking issue that has been hanging fire for over eight years now.
In fact, every inch of parking space in the heart of the commercial capital was literally occupied by increasing vehicles that made a beeline to the city from Salcete villages for Christmas shopping.
While the traffic cops were on their feet to challan the traffic violators, a shopper wondered why the commercial capital is still struggling to provide a basic parking facility to meet the growing parking requirements.
“We have heard over half a decade ago that the Margao Municipality has embarked on an ambitious exercise to put a multilevel parking lot in place at the old fish market behind the Municipal building. It is indeed sad that the parking lot has still not seen light of the day till date,” the citizen rued.
Incidentally, the government had promised to rope in a consultant to prepare a Master plan for the commercial capital to take care of the city’s future requirements, including vehicular traffic and parking. Sadly, nothing has been heard of the Master Plan till date, with Margao City Fathers pointing out that no consultant has ever visited the Civic body to explain them on the salient features of the Master plan.
