Parra panchayat works to preserve scenic church road

Calangute: The scenic roads near St Anne’s Church at Parra, which are popular selfie spots among tourists, are not going to be altered, panchayat members told TOI.
The increase in traffic due to the commissioning of the Manohar International Airport at Mopa has compelled the authorities to widen the roads in Parra as the village is located near the tourist hotspots of Calangute, Arpora-Nagoa, Assagao, and Anjuna.
But the two palm-fringed roads near the Parra church — one in front, and the other behind the shrine— which have become popular tourist spots will remain as they are, local panchs said.
“This is the beauty of the village of Parra and it has to be maintained. People are even saying that we should plant more coconut trees to ensure that the future generations can see and enjoy the trees,” said Parra deputy sarpanch Daniel Lobo.
With hundreds of tourists making a beeline for the spot to click selfies, photos, and shoot videos, the Parra village panchayat has now appointed four traffic sentinels to manage vehicular movement and has also created two pay-parking areas to reduce inconvenience for regular commuters, he said.
“Tourists park their vehicles and sit on the road. They don’t understand that this road tends to get busy because it connects Parra and Assagao. We cannot stop people from coming there. They’re tourists and want to capture memories. But what we can do is make them park their vehicles in the designated areas,” Lobo added.
Sarpanch Chandanand Harmalkar said the local body is already in the process of planting more coconut trees to replace the old ones.
“A number of trees along the road were old, in bad condition or had even got uprooted, so we have started replacing these by planting more coconut saplings. So far, 78 have been planted. We’re also planting more trees on a road adjoining the church to make it similarly attractive for tourists,” Harmalkar said.
The sarpanch added that the bundh on which the roads are located is also being strengthened with a retaining wall on the side.
Meanwhile, PWD on recently commenced widening the Parra-Nagoa road up to the Dream Circle.
A large number of trees and compound walls will be demolished to facilitate widening work. The narrow roads were causing constant traffic jams, Calangute MLA Michael Lobo said.