Traffic to Worsen at Cujira Complex because of one more school location shift

Cujira Complex was developed at Bambolim to reduce the traffic chaos in the city with 10 thousand square meter area provided to each institution for the period of 99-year-lease but it looks like there is no end to it, and one more school is preparing to shift at the Cujira will only add to the existing scenario which is already worsening day by day. What is the solution for this?

Goa lacks public transport facility and due to these people use their own vehicles, especially cars to drop and pick up their kids to school and due to this, there is regular traffic chaos across the city. There are many schools situated within Panaji jurisdiction and there are new pre-schools that have mushroomed across the city leads to create the traffic scenario all over. There is nothing intentional but lack of traffic sense amongst the people makes the situation worse.

To avoid the traffic problem Government had shifted a few of the bigger institutions to the newly built Cujira Complex during the reign of Parrikar but did that solved the problem? No, in fact, the problem worsened with the time and as Cujira hosts around 6000 plus students, adding to it their tutors and office staff.

Today everyone travels in the four-wheelers and that makes the situation more severe. At the time of pick up and drop off kids to the school, there is a huge commotion on a daily basis at Cujira which clubs with the existing traffic that flows from North Goa to South Goa.

According to the report published by the Times of India, the situation is yet to get worse with one more school is in the process of shifting to Cujira Complex. From June 2020, Anjuman Nurul Islam High School of Panaji will also be shifting its operations to the Cujira school complex, claims the report. 

Around 600 students from the Anjuman Nurul Islam High School will be studying at the new building at the complex. With this, the total number of students attending school at the Cujira complex will go up to 6,700, in addition to the teachers and other school staff of the institution.   

Anjuman Nurul Islam High School will be the sixth and last school in the first phase of Cujira school complex to shift there, making the complex fully operational. However, when the new academic year begins in June 2020, traffic congestion at the complex is expected to only worsen during the school opening and closing hours, with one more institute operating from here.

The report further claims that the despite of the provision of a new dedicated ring road the traffic congestion continues due to the work in progress on the exit point, but that is not the complete truth as most the parents, teacher and staff of the institution make use of entry road to exit from the complex as it is more convenient creating the complete traffic chaos at the complex.    

Congestion at the complex continues despite the dedicated ring road being opened up to exit the complex. The work on the planned redevelopment of the complex is also going on at a very slow pace, leaving no relief in sight.

“The ring road is operational. It was to provide an exit from the complex, which is different from the entry. However, some more development work has started at the exit point. This has reduced the exit point to a narrow passage. As a result, parents continue to use the entrance to exit as well and the traffic congestion continues,” said a school official.

The Government has a plan in their agenda to make the situation better but plans without implementing are as good as no plans at all. “The state government had announced the redevelopment of the complex as a solution to the chaos witnessed there at the start of every academic year, but there has been little headway in that direction for the last two years,” said the sources.

There are plans of demarcation of separate parking for the two-wheeler, four-wheeler, visitors and staff of the institution under the redevelopment which is yet to come into reality. Six Panaji schools were provided land of 10,000 sqm each at the Cujira school complex on a 99-year lease as a move to decongest the capital, claimed the report.

The only solution by far to the existing scenario at Cujira and all other schools located in the Panaji area is developing the traffic sense amongst the people who come to pick up and drop the kids to the school which includes the parents, their drivers and private bus operators. Once the traffic sense comes into everyone the situation will automatically come in control but in absence of the same, no amount of development or plans will make any difference to the existing situation. What are your views on this? 

Source: TOI