Successive govts have only been promising ‘ultra-modern bus stands’ and ‘bus port’
MARGAO
Has the coalition government headed by Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar and supported by TCP Minister Vijai Sardesai any plan to ease the acute traffic snarls plaguing the commercial capital?
Consider this: On Dussehra Day in 2011, former Chief Minister Digambar Kamat had laid the foundation stone for an ultra-modern bus terminus at the Margao KTC bus stand as part of a plan to resolve the burning traffic issue.
The following year in 2012, then Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar had promised to depute reputed consultants to study the traffic and congestion pattern in the commercial capital, before unveiling his plan of action. The same year, Urban Development Minister Francis D'Souza promised to build multi-storeyed parking lots in the city at the pick-up stand and old market.
Five years later in 2017, Transport Minister Sudin Dhavalikar has assured the Goa Legislative Assembly that the government will build a "Bus Port" at the Margao KTC bus stand instead of the ultra-modern bus terminus.
The ground reality, however, remains unchanged. Madgavkars in particular and Saxttikars in general have only heard promises galore from successive governments - right from an "ultra-modern bus stand" in 2011 to a "Bus Port" in 2017, besides the host of parking lots across the city.
Indeed, the commercial capital has been craving for attention on the traffic and parking front for years now, with successive governments only paying lip services to the burning issue.
Take the case of the KTC bus stand. While the Kamat government proposed the ultra-modern bus terminus in 2011, the proposal did not find favour with the BJP government. After six long years, the government now says the ultra-modern bus terminus project now stands shelved and will be replaced by a Bus Port.
Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, during his visit to the city in 2012 after taking over the reigns of office had promised to draft a consultant to study Margao's traffic problem and evolve a solution. The intended study has not taken place till date and promise to tone up the manpower requirements of the Margao traffic cell has not seen the light of day.
In the absence of traffic personnel, traffic regulation in the town has been left to the home guards. In fact, traffic indiscipline has become the order of the day with no police personnel around to crack whip on the violators.
The parking scenario is no different. Not a single multi-storeyed parking lot has become a reality though the city is blessed by a host of open spaces. Margao Municipal Council's ambitious parking project at the old fish market is still to take off as the project is stuck up in the GST tangle.
