A 90th ranking for Panjim is hardly worthy of a smart city

The State capital is not a very livable city. That’s what can be concluded from the Ease of Living Index released by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. The list ranks Panjim at 90th from among 111 cities in India that have been ranked. Quite embarrassing for Panjim to have 89 other cities ranked above it; and also upsetting for Goa as this is the State’ capital city. But, besides the humiliation, it also means that Panjim has a long journey ahead of it, if the city hopes to improve its rankings to come at par with the higher ranked cities, and in this quest for a better living index complacency will have no room. 

The ranking of the cities was based on four pillars –institutional, social, economic and physical parameters. The State capital did not figure in the top ten in any of the pillars. Since the study covered several metrics critical to track progress towards sustainable development goals in an urban environment, the 90th ranking that Panjim obtained should be a wakeup call for the smart city in the making. This index should give the smart city planners the data on which to work out the plans, focusing entirely on what is missing in the city and what needs to be done to correct this. 

It has been the lack of a plan and also the lack of political will that has not allowed Panjim to develop sustainably. Under the warped understanding that development means construction – whether of residential or commercial buildings – the city has sprouted concrete structures without ever ascertaining the carrying capacity of the area. It has allowed casinos to be anchored on the River Mandovi, and allowed the streets along the waterfront to become 24-hour parking areas for casino clients. It is only now that there are mobility plans and parking plans that are being considered. Action on these though still remains distant which will take longer to make the city people friendly and ease the lives of the residents and visitors.

There, however, now exists a conundrum. In order to turn more livable, Panjim needs to ensure that it meets the urbanisation model of the Centre, but again is this what the residents of the city would want? While the rest of Goa fights to retain its charm, actively discouraging the outgrowths of towns and cities, striving to keep the villages from turning into urban agglomerations, should Panjim take that leap into the urban mould? The city has to ensure that it retains its architectural and cultural identity that makes it unique, even as it brings in elements of the modern to make it more livable. 

What Panjimites cannot allow is for the city to grow haphazardly with short-term goals that will keep aside the future growth of the city. The residents will have to be smart not to allow the smart city to change the character of the city they live in. The latter will happen if there are no stringent checks maintained. 

The immediate focus has to be to decongest the city, keep the high rises out so that the roads are not taken up by parked cars leaving very little space of traffic flow, shift the government offices out of the city centre, making the area less congested. That’s for starters, and then work from there. Unbelievably, Panjim has a multilevel pay parking facility that is underused since it was inaugurated. It cannot afford more such projects. Any planning has to be based on proper research that considers the need for the project before any investment is made.