SATURDAY, MAY 04, 2024
VITHLDAS HEGDE
PANJIM: It has been nearly eight years when Panjim was selected to be developed as ‘Smart City’ by the Union Ministry for Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA). But the State government and specially the IPSCDL, which was created specially the complete the projects, could not complete the works. Initially, the work was very slow and only a small stretch of Smart Road near Fire and Emergency Services was completed.
But as the pressure mounted, the works got expedited and almost all stretches of the city roads got dug up.
Advocate General Devidas Pangam submitted that the measures would be taken in the context of dust pollution, traffic situation and safety precautions and strict directives have been issued to all concerned to complete the works by May 31, 2024.
The deadline seems like an almost impossible mountain to climb. Especially with what the people of Panjim witnessed last Saturday (April 20).
The apprehensions expressed by the residents of Panjim about the shoddy Smart City works carried out by Imagine Panaji Smart City Development Limited (IPSCDL) came true just an hour of rainfall on Saturday.
Saturday’s heavy morning downpour pushed mud into the gutters and flooded critical parts of the city, bringing traffic in parts of the city to a standstill. The half complete drainage system done by Smart City workers was rendered useless.
The roads near Mathias Plaza, near Hindu Pharmacy and at St Inez were soaked, ruining the works and completely driving the people who reside in that area to despair. The city witnessed flood like situation, indicating what is in the store if the work is not completed by May 31, 2024, a deadline set by the government.
CCP Mayor Rohit Monserrate has now squarely blamed the IPSCDL officials for the mess and alleged that they were keeping the works incomplete. He complained that every area where Smart City works was carried out was flooded.
“This is an issue. What has happened in the first rain, we do not want it to happen again. For the no fault of Corporation of City of Panaji, we have to listen from the people. We have to carry out cleaning again,” Monserrate said, demanding that the IPSCDL officials will have to complete their projects and clear the flood points.
The Smart City works have already claimed two lives - first of a labourer hailing from Bihar and second of a youth from Ribandar.
As the Panjim residents could not bear it anymore, they approached the High Court of Bombay at Goa over the dust pollution caused by the ongoing Smart City works. In the first PIL writ petition, three Panjim citizens Piyush Panchal, Alwyn D’Sa and Neelam Navelkar sought directions to the authorities to provide mechanism to curb dust pollution during works. They also prayed for setting up of real time ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations at different locations in Panjim.
Two other citizens Christus C Lopes of Caranzalem and Sadanand Vaigankar in another PIL,stated that the ongoing works has held the Panjim city to unprecedented chaotic situation for last more than two years and it appears that such situation will continue to haunt the residents of Panjim and people visiting here for many more months to come if it is not regulated in strict manner.
Hearing both the PILs together, the Court asked IPSCDL to give time-line when the ongoing works will be completed. Even realising that the situation was grave, two high court judges took site inspection of the city to get the feel of the damage caused by the works and inconvenience caused to the people.
During the site visit, some residents complained to the judges that the agencies were not taking care to rectify the mismatch between road and footpath measure due to which their houses or shops would be flooded during the monsoon. Their fears came true when works were exposed during unseasonal rain.
Speaking to O Heraldo, Panjim resident Sandeep Heble said, "I have seen lot of haphazard construction work going on all around without quality being maintained, without proper checks, without proper supervision and without proper safety measures at place. It looks unplanned work. As the Smart City project is almost seven-eight years old, it should have been a planned project. But what I see is unplanned. If they are spending like Rs 1,000 crore and it is not going to be on the par with the modern cities of the world, then it means that money is not spent wisely. I think there is a need to do a lot of soul searching by those who have spent these monies. They have to answer to the public why the money has not been used properly. They have given a deadline of completion of work. Maybe they might have completed 70-80 per cent of work but will they be able to give good quality to the public. That is the most important question which nobody can answer today. The local MLA himself has said that he cannot assure us of quality. When the MLA himself makes statement like this then it is a worrying sign.''
Tanoj Adwalpalkar said, ''The unseasonal rain has shown whether the Smart City work is of good quality or bad quality. Near Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI)'s office road caved in, near BJP's office sewage chamber caved in. Actually, it is time when Ponjekars should awaken. They should be Chowkidars.''
Former CCP Mayor and councillor Uday Madkaikar said, ''No quality is being maintained as far as the Smart City work is concerned. There is no supervision of the work and I do not think that the work will be completed by May 31, 2024. Many times I have demanded that the quality audit and financial audit have to be done. If quality is not maintained even spending around Rs 1,200 crore, it means the public money has gone to drains.''
COURTS: THE ONLY HOPE
PIL 1 Panjim citizens Piyush Panchal, Alwyn D’Sa and Neelam Navelkar have moved the High Court on unbearable dust pollution leading to health hazards
PIL 2 T Christus C Lopes of Caranzalem and Sadanand Vaigankar that the ongoing works has held the Panjim city to unprecedented chaotic situation for last more than two years and asked for clear directives to the Smart City authorities to rid people of this misery
