SUNDAY, MAY 05, 2024
Economist Intelligence Unit ‘s (EIU) Global Liveability Index for the year 2023 has been published recently. In the time of instability, the list has been described as a picture of hope. The list includes 173 cities from all around the world. The bi-annual survey which was conducted between February 13 and March 12 aimed at reviewing cities which were most liveable and the ones which were the worst. There is not a single Indian city ranked in the first 100. Hence, this would make one wonder about the hype around crores of rupees being spent on the schemes under Smart City projects. The government does not seem that they consider themselves bound to answer these questions.
When someone questions the inflation, they are told that the rates of mobile data have become cheaper. This explains the mentality of the politicians. An ambitious ‘Smart City Mission ‘scheme was implemented along with the AMRUT scheme. Panjim was selected for the project and a body called ‘Imagine Panaji Smart City Development Limited’ was also established. The government is spending through the Corporation of the City of Panaji for the development of the city. PWD and WRD departments too are doing the work assigned to them through their respective funds. Apart from this, the funds are also being spent on the smart city projects. The charm of this naturally beautiful city has been lost thanks to this initiative.
The first few showers were enough to expose the shoddy work of the projects and asphalt being washed away in the rain could be seen only in the smart city. It has become extremely dangerous to walk on Panjim’s roads and footpaths with no answer regarding completion of the works in sight. This is the situation with just few showers of rain then one cannot even imagine what Panjim is in for, for the rest of the monsoon season which lies ahead.
EIU’s list includes five Indian cities which are New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Ahmedabad and Bengaluru. New Delhi and Mumbai jointly occupied 141st spot followed by Chennai at 144th, Ahmedabad at 147th and Bengaluru at 148th. Given that the funds from Smart City Mission and AMRUT, both, are spent on the city, Panjim should have at least made it to the list. The government too has separately spent it own funds on the city. Various criteria such as stability, health care, culture, entertainment, reliable basic facilities and best education were considered criteria, while conducting the respective survey. Panjim did not make it to the list, which means the city does not stand the test of the aforementioned criteria. It is not a thing of pride that the city did not achieve its place on an international list despite being the beneficiary of Smart City Mission as well as AMRUT initiatives. Previously funds were spent on Panjim under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) as well.
Panjim should have become a smart city long back considering all these initiatives and now no one seems to know when the ‘imagine’ word will be replaced by reality. Only demand the people of the city have now is to at least improve the basic infrastructure of Panjim and its flooding. Ponjekars so far have only faced administration of such a nature that one would lose all trust in the narrative that the city could be made into a smart one. When the Centre had taken the review of the JNNURM program, the committee appointed to do the same had pointed at lack of long-term planning at city level, municipalities insufficient capacity, shoddy nature of work while implementing the program and failure of local governing bodies to bring in the compulsory improvements. There has been no change in the situation even now.
The biggest factor for the continued programmes to become unsuccessful was, and still is, poor planning. Pre-monsoon work staying pending with the arrival of the monsoon proves just that. This gives a worrying impression that the future of such initiatives will be the same until and unless the government does not take serious steps regarding town planning. Majority of the Centre’s projects are city-oriented such as Smart City Mission, Swachh Bharat Mission, HRIDAY scheme for the development of heritage cities and AMRIT programme. However, these initiatives may face the same fate as JNNURM if their implementation is not planned well. The errors from planning to implementation can still be rectified through public participation. It is not possible to integrate all the aspects of civil life without an all-inclusive survey. And for that, there will not be a better laboratory than Panjim where all the experiments have failed, isn’t it?
