Over a decade on, Margao still awaits multi-level car park

Margao: More than a decade after the foundation stone was laid, Margao is still waiting for a multi-level car park — and the latest attempt to break the deadlock, an automated six-level puzzle parking facility estimated at Rs 8 crore, shows no signs of getting off the ground either.

The Goa State Urban Development Agency (GSUDA), which took over the project from the Margao Municipal Council (MMC) in June 2024, invited bids for the electro-mechanical puzzle parking system in Oct 2025. The request for qualification process was completed, and officials expressed hope of finalising a capable agency soon. But months on, there is no visible progress at the project site, and MMC chairperson Damodar Shirodkar’s repeated assurances that the project “should happen soon” have done little to inspire confidence.

GSUDA’s current proposal envisages a six-level facility — expanded from an originally proposed four-level structure — to be executed under a five-year operation and maintenance contract.

MMC’s parking plans date to 2009. A foundation stone was laid in 2015, but GST-related complications and administrative delays killed the original RCC multi-level structure. Repeated tender failures followed. The Rs 3 crore allocated by Congress govt in 2011 lay unused for over a decade before being returned to govt in April 2022, by which point it accumulated nearly Rs 2.5 crore in interest.

Local traders have grown weary. “First the multilevel parking, then the hydraulic system, and now the puzzle parking — but nothing ever materialises,” said a shop owner. Opposition councillors have been sharper, calling it a pattern of “announcement politics”.
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