Panjim... working towards a likeable capital Tallulah D'Silva tallulahdsi...@gmail.com
The third edition on NoMoZo (Non-Motorized-Zone) was a huge success with young enthusiasts -- school and college students -- landing up at the venue rather early as the Traffic Police, Corporation of the City of Panjim and volunteers of Aamchi Panaji hastened to get the area cordoned off, swept clean and free of cars and two wheelers. There were more than 2000 people cycling, walking, playing, chatting and also jostling for space in the unexpectedly crowded melee. Little kids on their little cycles, teenagers in large groups, parents accompanying tiny tots eager to explore the car free length of road, senior citizens calmly ambling along, police constables mingling in, the atmosphere and activities just perfect for a Sunday well spent. The idea of a car free space is gaining popularity, isn't it? It simply proves that Panjim and its residents are ready and support the pedestrianisation of some of its overcrowded streets. 18th June Road is an ideal case in point, as it is a shopping street and like the rest of the city, relatively deserted on weekends and holidays. That brings us back to the question of why pedestrianisation is one of the key solutions to the city's ever mounting traffic congestion. To understand the city's traffic woes let us examine threadbare its myriad problems. What are the traffic and mobility related issues in our city today? Here's perhaps a comprehensive list: Current issues: Increased traffic loads, primarily cars- at peak times Possible reasons: Everybody owns a car or motorcycle and prefers to use this to travel to the nearest point to hop on to a shuttle bus service. High capita income-everybody owns two cars adding to city congestion. Current issues: Narrow roads in city core and heritage areas causing congestion, widening roads is not possible in old areas. Ribandar-Patto junction also gets clogged. Old Ribandar road is heavily crowded and movement is slow in the heritage area. Possible reasons: No scope for widening existing roads in the city core and outer limits of the city bound by river, back waters, khazan lands that further constrains expansion Current issues: Inadequate public transportation Possible reasons: City buses ply at a low frequency, are often overcrowded and incur long waits at bus stops. Private run buses only cater to the lucrative main routes. Current issues: KTC junction gets clogged with the intermingling of through traffic and intra city traffic Possible reasons: Bridges are small for current carrying capacities and the KTC junction is common for intra and inter city traffic Current issues: Most of the major junctions suffer traffic jams at peak hours and the intermingling of pedestrians, buses, cars, two-wheelers, ferry users, cyclists. Possible reasons: Increase in the number of cars and users coming to the city Current issues: Absence of public transportation in the city core Possible reasons: Small size of city population does not allow for the introduction of a mass rapid transit system like in other large metros. Current issues: City core is chock-a-block with on street parking reducing the capacity of the carriage way. Possible reasons: No space with residents, traders, businesses, taxis, visitors struggling for parking space. Current issues: No pedestrian zones- pavements are fragmented, road crossings are risky, uniform levels not maintained- for residents, citizens and pedestrians who walk across the city core. No textural surfaces for blind and disabled citizens to enable easy movement along pavements and building edges Possible reasons: New buildings disregard maintaining level pavements to connect adjacent edges seamlessly. City not made disabled-friendly. Current issues: Improper and inadequate signage for direction, information and warnings Possible reasons: No comprehensive signage both in heritage areas as well as business core Current issues: Lack of proper infrastructure for road junctions/crossings like zebra crossing, footbridges, traffic lights, etc Possible reasons: Traffic calming measures like raised paved areas in level with adjoining pavement absent in most parts of the city. Current issues: Lack of maintenance of stepped streets used largely by residents and tourists Possible reasons: No importance given to these traditional walkways perhaps because these lie in less prominent areas. Current issues: Lack of dedicated parking spaces in the city to ease the parking loads on the street. Possible reasons: No land available and unused spaces haven't been explored yet Current issues: Cycling into the city is a nightmare. Decrease in the number of cyclists. Possible reasons: More cars, fewer cycles, who cares? Rise in income and urban spread, rise in use of motorized personal vehicles Current issues: Ferries need improvement. Vehicles and passengers constantly jostling for space. Inconvenience to passengers wanting to travel to further points due to limitations of the circuit. Possible reasons: Possibility of using smaller boats/like yacht to exclusively ferry passengers has not been tapped. Also connecting these directly to Panjim from surrounding areas like Chorao, Divar, Betim, Aguada has not been explored yet. Current issues: Except for tourists, no place where regular commuters can hire cycles for daily use. Possible reasons: No cycle hire and drop-off points, especially at bus terminals and ferry, thus completing the non-motorised transport circle. Current issues: New buildings do not make provision for parking within its premises increasing the pressure on streets Possible reasons: Strictures for provision of parking space need to be adhered to when building permissions are granted We have been pondering over these issues for so many years that the possible solutions have found common ground amongst Panjim's citizenry. The current Goa Golden Jubilee Committee's Vision Document 2012, desirable development pattern as per the RP2012 (Regional Plan 2012), Comprehensive Mobility Plan prepared under JNNURM (Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission), Charles Correia Foundation's city bus loop proposal largely outlines the same recommendations. Panjim with its unique geography already has the wire frame for improving its structure for transportation and mobility. It already has a history of being a walk-friendly city. Its strengths are its heritage, quaint size and river edge. The solutions therefore focus on movement of people and a clean and green technology for transportation not any intrusive and complex systems. So what are the solutions? * The first change that will solve a number of problems is introduction of a comfortable, eco friendly, frequent and efficient public transport system. Like the shuttle service but better! This model can be replicated to connect with other towns and villages so that the larger issue of mobility is taken care of. * KTC junction needs to be resolved to allow through traffic to move on unhindered and allow traffic entering the city to simply step off the thoroughfare. * All the heritage residential areas of the city- Fontainhas/Mala, Raibandar and Campal need to be traffic calmed (change in tarmac to pavers, speed limits of 20kms/hr) and serviced with public transportation (bus and passenger ferries) on its outer main roads. * Traffic calming in the city core to encourage pedestrian and bicycle friendly urban spaces * Pay parking in city core and parking nodes to discourage excessive use of cars but allowing residents easy access and restricting traders and business establishments with curbs for passage of goods only at particular times. * River based transport remains unexplored. Ferry services must be improved by having smaller boats for passengers and standard ferries for vehicles. Ferries can also have multiple stops ending at Panjim water front taking advantage of the newer jetties otherwise lying unused but for IFFI film festival. * Integration of dedicated cycle lanes, infrastructure for cycling is a must. This will encourage children, the working class, and individuals to travel to school, office and city to switch to cycling. * All pedestrian links like pavements, colonnaded spaces need to be seamlessly connected, levels maintained, textural blocks integrated into pavements and building edges for easy movement of the blind and differently-abled. * Road junctions need to be upgraded with paved table tops, zebra crossings and appropriate signage. * Signage for directional instructions, heritage, speed limitations and information are a necessity. * And pedestrian friendly areas or NoMoZo (Non-motorized zone)'s must be identified that will allow people to move freely and benefit key areas like shopping streets, markets, heritage areas of the city. So how will Panjim's citizens accrue these benefits? All the possible solutions have to slowly fall in place. Where do we begin? What needs to come in first? Beginning at the bottom of the list, perhaps with a bottom to top approach can Panjim's citizenry effect change? NoMoZo hopes to spark that change. Basically comparable to a Car Free Day or Sunday street that are currently been observed in India and in many cities across the globe, it seeks to highlight the need of making our cities free of cars and people friendly. The activities conducted by citizens at NoMoZo are purely incidental to the cause. Our hope is to have a NoMoZo not just on a Sunday but every day. Imagine Panjim that is car free, as on a Sunday, everyday, forever! -- The writer is a young architect and one of the moving spirits behind the NoMoZo campaign in Panjim. More about NoMoZo here: http://www.facebook.com/groups/442588149090474/ This article was first published in the Panjim Plus, Herald.