SATURDAY, APRIL 20, 2024
On May 23, 2018 Herald had reported that the ball had started rolling to make Panjim a smart city. The report said “If all goes well, it will be a reality by as early as August (2018). Imagine Panaji Smart City Development Ltd (IPSCDL) launched its Proof of Concept (PoC) for the leading four bidders who have thrown their hat in the ring to seek a project on Goa Intelligent City Management System (GICMS).”
Sources in Panjim mentioned that without doubt, many works have been completed but the deliveries which were promised like free WiFi, traffic and solid waste management etc are still languishing.
“This is important for the general public as it will make them feel safe and there will be ease of life. I hope this project is taken up at the earliest and with priority for the people of Panjim,” added the source.
When asked for his reaction the former Mayor of Corporation of the City of Panjim (CCP), Surendra Furtado said “When I was the Mayor under the UPA government I had managed Rs 72 crore for 24x7 water supply through PWD, also got sanctioned of Rs 20 crore for St Inez creek, Rs 20 crore for e-governance, Rs 100 crore for Bainguinim Treatment Plant and all these funds were sabotaged because I would get the credit of doing so. Rs 800 crore were sanctioned in principal for Comprehensive Mobility Plan (CMP) all under JNNURM but then UPA government fell and so did the Smart City.”
Furtado went on to say that as a Mayor through Department of Municipal Administration (DMA), he managed 30,000 house hold garbage black and green bins which were distributed free of costs to the residents and shop owners on producing their house tax receipts.
“Also an additional 1000 black and 1000 green trollys which are used by our people to collect garbage from house to house was managed. Under the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) I managed to get 30 tri cycles which were deployed in every ward to carry heavy garbage. Now nothing for last three years and if they have purchased, they have utilised CCP Funds,” charged Furtado.
He further added that as a Mayor he managed Rs 16 crore through Goa State Urban Development Agency (GSUDA) for the re-development of Christian cemetery, Hindu crematorium and Muslim and Khoja burial which is under way. “Show me in last three years what the CCP has brought either under CSR or any other government Funds,” he questioned the CCP.
Former Member of Legislative Assembly and ex-director of Imagine Panaji Smart City Development Ltd (IPSCDL), Siddharth Kuncolienkar said, “This project is a wonderful programme initiated by our Prime Minister Narendra Modi which will make the city more safe and liveable. During my tenure we started the work in that direction which included improving of electrical systems, safety by installation of CCTVs, WiFi, garbage management etc. Now the leadership has changed and it seems the priorities too have changed.”
When asked as to why the project is being delayed, Kuncolienkar said, “In any government project it requires huge number of follow-ups, planning and also the willingness for completion of the project. But at this moment I am not privy to any information as to what is happening or not happening. Since this project is funded by the Central government then definitely funds should be available. So, it is a matter of execution.”
The Government of India along with the various states and local governments planned to implement several flagship urban missions. An overarching goal of the various missions and schemes is to make Indian cities more ‘liveable’. In order to develop a common minimum framework for cities to assess their existing status and chart their pathway towards providing a better quality of life to their citizens, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has developed a set of ‘Liveability Standards in cities’ to generate a Liveability Index and rate cities.
The Liveability Standards framework enables the calculation of sub-indexes for each of the 15 categories, allowing cities to assess their performance in specific categories and for planning improvements in the gap areas. The exercise was done in March 2018, which included Panjim to assess the performance of 116 cities identified under the smart city mission on 79 indicator areas cutting across 15 dimensions, categories including governance, identity and culture and economy and employment.
