FRIDAY, APRIL 19, 2024
Citizen Joaquim Almeida Siolim
Many now refer to Panjim as the Ukraine of Goa. The aerial view of the city depicts an area bombed and devastated. One dreads to think of what will happen in the upcoming monsoons.
Smart City work, G20 work, the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) maintenance work, private construction work, it’s a kaleidoscope of mismanaged and uncoordinated works all merging together to make life miserable for one and all.
Following are the few issues to ponder: Hot-mix work on D B Marg: (a perfectly good road that didn’t need any work for a couple of years) while simultaneously digging humungous craters in the St Inez Road has made it quite impossible to travel towards Miramar and further or vice versa.
The air quality index: What goes up must come down, so by that same rule shouldn’t what has been dug up be buried back again? And that too as soon as possible? First of all the mud is left for days on to spread and disperse, then only a few remnants are put back into the crater. The rest is at the mercy of wind, vehicle tyres and the sweepers, blown around so much that Panjim’s air quality index is at rock bottom. And then whatever little has gone back into the crater is not covered for months so that too is at the mercy of the same elements.
Next we have the quality of work: Well here one would have to say ‘what quality?’ There have been at least three instances where vehicles have sunk into roads that have only recently been constructed! That too where concrete slabs have been cast!
The blood pressure of drivers in Panjim is at an all time high. If one wheel sinks a little bit, visions of them and their vehicles swallowed whole flash by, and then silent prayers and farewell to loved ones follow until, if fortunate, they manage to pull out of the rut.
A lot can and should be done for Panjim, a beautiful city, well designed by our forefathers but smart things are for smart people and Smart City design, planning, execution and recovery should be left to only smart people.
