Cujira congestion welcomes kids, parents to new school year

PANAJI: One year later, nothing has changed at the Cujira school complex. On the first day of the 2018-19 academic year on Monday, parents of students studying there were reminded of their nightmarish experience on the first day of school last year. With the promised ring road not yet complete, they were again forced to use the same road to enter and exit the complex. As it was drizzling, most students were driven to school in four-wheelers, leading to congestion despite the presence of traffic personnel to avoid a repeat of 2017.
“It took us half an hour just to travel from Merces to Cujira,” said Akshata Puranik Bhat, a parent. “Since it is the first day, more parents than usual come to drop their kids to school.”

Former Panaji MLA Siddharth Kuncalienkar, who is head of the task force formed to resolve the infrastructural problems at the complex, said that the last patch of land for construction of the ring road is currently being acquired. “Once the acquisition is complete, the ring road will be ready,” he said. “Today, we ensured that there was no ‘situation’ like last year. I was personally monitoring the situation from 8.45-9.45am.” He said that many parents insist on parking their four-wheelers right outside the school to drop off their students, and that leads to congestion.

Anjuman Nurul Islam High School, Panaji, the sixth and last institution allotted land at the complex, moves in this month, making phase one of the project fully operational. Some of the other schools that already operate from Cujira will also move more of their sections into the complex this month. Thus, an additional 1,000 students are expected to attend classes there in the new academic year, taking the total number of students at Cujira to 6,500.