PANJIM: In December 2022, Imagine Panaji Smart City Development Limited (IPSCDL) was supposed to fulfill a very simple mandate - revamp the ancient sewerage system and build two Smart roads. It was confident that it would deliver these by April 2023. It failed.
And for two successive monsoons, Panjim has been plundered, with sewage flowing into people’s homes and floating on the streets, and the so-called Smart roads incomplete in most aspects.
Incomplete roads have dangerous craters in many places. And yes, lives have been lost, including that of a councillor’s son.
Goa State Urban Development Agency (GSUDA) allocated the project in December 2022.
All this has left in its wake utter destruction and the collapse of Panjim.
To de-silt the drains, surface gutters and also the underground drainage system, drawings of the age-old Portuguese era underground network (of sewerage water and other utilities) were needed. But multiple agencies blinded by the lack of drawings were like the blind men touching the elephant. Pipelines got damaged and there were sewage spillages.
The heavy rains of the past few days have clearly exposed the shoddy work done by Imagine Panaji Smart City Development Limited (IPSCDL), which had been boasting of providing a solution to flooding in the city once the work is completed.
But when it was seen by everybody how Panjim was flooded and garbage and plastic flowed out, people realised that it’s tall claims on revamping the sewage and the drainage system were hollow
Speaking to O Heraldo, Sadanand Vaigankar said, “There is no improvement in the sewerage system. If the basic work is not completed, how improvement will be seen? At many spots, work was repeated. Drainage outlets are closed.”
Piyush Panchal of Miramar said, “It is there for everyone to see. There is no need to comment. It is there for everyone to see and experience what has been done and what type of work has been undertaken.”
“There was water logging on 18th June Road, Miramar and other places in the city. Still, there are no sewerage connections to houses. We have raised this issue various times. There is no quality work, that is why I have demanded that a quality audit should be conducted and a solution to flooding should be found out on a priority basis,” said former CCP mayor and councillor Uday Madkaikar, while adding that the “main reason for flooding at Patto is the constuctions of high-rise buildings, which have buried gutters which facilitated natural flow of water”.
Former mayor and councillor Surendra Furtado said, “Do not ask about Smart City works because no councillor was ever taken into confidence, despite me and my colleague Uday Madkaikar shouting at the top of our voice that we should have a special meeting with the Smart City officials.”
Christus Lopes of Caranzalem said, “When you proceed from Miramar Circle to Kala Academy, you will find that drainages are open. They should have been covered. This caused many vehicles to meet with accidents. The drainage system is not proper at all. It should have been connected to the river. The roads have been destroyed.”