The corporation of the city of Panaji’s pay parking project on the streets surrounding the municipal market hasn’t gone down well with businesses in the area, though shoppers seemed to welcome the move.
Tony Furtado of Walkover said, “I feel that CCP should not have the pay parking system at the moment. First they should clean the gutters, the pavements and the roads. All these things should be taken care of. Old government vehicles should be removed. If this is done the CCP need not worry about the parking problem because there will be lot more parking space available. If pay parking does come business will definitely get affected.”
Agreeing to this , an employee of Cafe Mutto said, “Business will definitely get affected. We would prefer some other alternative rather than pay parking.”
Employees of a bank in the area who park their vehicles on the street the entire day too said, “It’s an unwanted additional expense. It’s not feasible for people working the whole day. It will burn a hole in our pockets. How are locals going to manage? Why should residents around the market be made to pay to park?”
Most people who work in the area and drive to work were worried about having to pay to park their vehicles.
Mayor Carolina Po, however, reassured saying, “The contractor will issue them special monthly passes on concession. This is one of the clauses and we will definitely take them into consideration.” According to the plan, two wheelers will be charged Rs. 5 and four wheelers Rs. 10 for every two hours.
Some though felt the project was a good idea. A shop owner in the market, on condition of anonymity, said, “The system is good. I believe people make a excuse not to come to the market saying they won’t get parking space. I think pay parking could bring people to the market as they may be guaranteed a space to park.”
That is something shoppers seemed to agree with. Suzie Martins of Panaji who shops regularly said, “It’s a good thing as long as the money is used for maintenance of the roads. Space is a constraint. It should benefit the people since there will be constant movement.” She added that those parking vehicles for shorter periods should be charged less.
Damodar Dalal another shopper said, “Since there are road taxes we expect proper roads. If they are asking for us to pay for parking, they should provide space and security for the vehicle. This plan should be implemented. The scooter charges, however, are just too high.”
The streets selected for the pay parking are those in front of Hotel Navtara, Poshak, the Market Federation near Sunrise Sweet Mart and the main road outside the market complex.
Source: Times Of India
