MAPUSA
Parking space comes at a premium in Mapusa and the situation gets worse in the market.
The biggest problem for visitors or shoppers visiting Mapusa is to find space to park vehicles.
It has become a huge challenge for Mapusa Municipal Council (MMC) and the traffic police to regulate traffic in the market, particularly on Fridays.
“People from Mapusa and surrounding villages, who work in different places like Panaji, Verna or Margao, etc, come on two-wheelers to the town and after parking their vehicles in and around the Mapusa market, proceed by public transport to their onward destination,” admits MMC Chairperson Sandeep Falari.
These people prefer to park their two-wheelers in front of the cloth shop merchants in the market or the street near the State Bank of India for the whole day for free.
Besides, the vendors/hawkers have grabbed most of the open space in the market, thereby making it difficult for MMC to demarcate certain streets for parking.
The situation has reached to such a pass that even shopkeepers are facing the heat of parking problem.
Recently, the suppliers and distributors of FMCG and food items refused to supply goods to the shops in Mapusa market, due to lack of space to park their delivery vans.
“Such problems will affect the business and trade of our merchant community,” said Ashish Shirodkar, president of Mapusa Merchants’ Association.
Movement of two-wheelers inside the market lanes is another menace faced by the shoppers in Mapusa market.
“It has been noticed that two-wheeler riders zoom in and out of the market without caring for the safety of pedestrians,” Shirodkar said.
The MMC has several plans to regulate traffic in the market and make space available for parking.
“Converting certain areas into pay parking will bring some semblance of order from the current traffic chaos. It will deter people who park vehicles in the market for the whole day,” Falari said. “Our main aim is not to generate revenue to the council, but to bring some discipline in the market,” he added.
The Mapusa Merchants’ Association has also put up some suggestions to the council to resolve the parking problem in the market.
The association suggested to demarcate certain areas and regulate timings for entry and parking of commercial vehicles inside the market, to enable the business community to receive their supply of goods.
It also suggested notifying certain lanes in the market as only pedestrian streets so that no one can zoom with their two-wheelers.
The association also suggested removal of the current gates on the two sides of the market and installing new modified gates in its place, which allows easy access to pedestrians while disallowing any vehicles to pass through.
quote:
Converting certain areas into pay parking will bring some semblance of order from the current traffic chaos. It will deter people who park vehicles in the market for the whole day. Our main aim is not to generate revenue to the council, but to bring some discipline in the market,”
Sandeep Falari, MMC chairperson
box:
Merchants’ association suggestsDemarcation of certain areas and regulating timings for entry and parking of commercial vehicles inside the market, to enable the business community to receive their supply of goods
Notifying certain lanes in the market as only pedestrian streets so that no one can zoom with their two-wheelersRemoval of the current gates on the two sides of the market and installing new modified gates in its place
