PANAJI: The pay parking service scheduled to be implemented in the city later this year, especially around the city municipal market and along the 18th June Road may have received the mandate of the ruling side councillors in the Corporation of the City of Panaji, but these pay parking zones are located in the wards represented by the group of councillors on opposition side, and supported by the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Seven out of such eight councillors – Mr Menino D’Cruz, Ms Vaidehi Naik, Mr Suresh Chopdekar, Ms Diksha Maeenkar, Ms Jyoti Masurekar, Ms Varsha Haldankar and Mr Sandeep Kundaikar - represent the city wards, while Mr Rupesh Halarnkar is a councillor from a ward
in Ribandar.

Speaking to the members of this group revealed that they were never consulted by the ruling faction of the CCP, before deciding on the pay parking zones in the city.

"We may form the opposition group in the CCP, but it was the duty of the Mayor, Ms Carolina Po to discuss the issue with us as it is our voters, who reside in these pay parking zones, and would be gravely affected in terms of parking their vehicles," they said.

When questioned as to whether their prospects of victory at the CCP election scheduled in March/ April 2011 would be affected because of the conversion of parts of their wards into pay parking zones, some of these opposition councillors said that on the contrary, the chances of their victory have increased.

"The voters of Panaji, in general are highly intelligent people and have seen through the fraudulent mechanisms of the ruling side in the Corporation, especially the pay parking scam, racket as regards allotment of shops in the new municipal market complex and finally, failure to find solution to the garbage problem," they added, noting that all this would combine to defeat the Monserrate panel at the forthcoming Corporation election.

A member of the ruling CCP panel however, maintained that the people are wise enough to know that the pay parking service has been introduced to beef up the Corporation revenue, which would go towards the city development.

Reacting to this statement, an opposition side councillor maintained that people fully understand where all the revenue of the Corporation ends up.

"For the past four-and-a-half years, the CCP has been unable to complete any notable project in the city, with the sole project of upgradation of the municipal garden still in the completion stage," he added, noting that the ruling councillors have even failed to receive money under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission.