MARGAO
Fears of parking issue at the new Margao Civil and Criminal Court building under construction raised by the South Goa Advocates Association has come under the High Court lens.
In fact, the High Court has issued directions to the government Counsel to give details of the parking space that is proposed in the new building as it is the demand of the South Goa Advocates Association that the parking shall be somewhere minimum of 200 cars upto a maximum 300 cars as the building is likely to be visited by lawyers as well as clients since it houses both the civil and criminal court.
The High Court has further directed the government Counsel to place before the Court a fresh timeline/ chart reflecting about the completion dates, including the completion of the new Margao Civil and Criminal Court building. The government lawyer has been directed to submit the timeline of the ancillary work, to house the Court in this building at Margao by obtaining the timelines from the concerned contractor and stating the date when the Court building can be made functional.
The matter will now come up for hearing on August 11.
Earlier, the Amicus Curiae Neha Shirodkar placed before the Court a report after visiting the proposed Civil and Criminal Court building on July 26.
After inspecting the progress of the work and making certain observations, the amicus curiae has stated in the report that the construction work is progressing at good speed but it may not be possible to abide by the timelines given by the government earlier though she has expressed satisfaction as an amicus over the progress of the work.
The Counsel representing the South Goa Bar Association highlighted before the Court the insufficient parking, submitting that the parking which is presently proposed would be highly inadequate for the district court itself. He therefore stated some more parking spaces must be allotted for the Civil and Criminal Court building which is the upcoming construction.
The South Goa Advocates Association has time and again expressed its fears and apprehensions that vehicular parking will be a major issue plaguing the new Margao Civil and Criminal Court building once the construction work is completed and the building inaugurated. In fact, Association president Adv Prasad Naik had last week claimed that the multi-storeyed new Margao Civil and Criminal Court building provides parking for just nine to four-wheelers. As it is, he pointed out that the South Goa District Court complex is facing acute parking problem, adding that the situation may go out of control once the new building adjoining the district Court complex is inaugurated and commissioned.
