When cracks appear in political alliances even before candidates can be declared it gives little confidence to the electorate that there can be any change in the manner in which the new Corporation of the City of Panaji will serve the residents of the State Capital. The city of Panjim is just two months away from the elections to the municipal council, and instead of issues being discussed and solutions proffered, what the electorate is beginning to see is politicking that serves little purpose. Though it is still early there is very little clarity on the issues that are affecting Panjim and what are the solutions that the candidates or the panels that will be contesting this election have for the problems.
Politicking has been the bane of Panjim, as during the past term of the corporation the corporators have spent a considerable time indulging in politicking, time that could be utilised to bring about a change in the city. The political undertones in the council become evident at the time of the annual election to the mayor and deputy mayor’s post for which the corporators begin to jostle for even a month or more in advance. There has even been an instance of a poll to the post of the mayor being cancelled on the morning of the election solely because the government in power wanted to have their own person elected as mayor.
Politicking aside, there are the problems. Though the corporation boasts of being the oldest civic institution in Asia, Panjim as a city is not too old. But the city does have its problems that go back decades and to which no solution has been found as yet. There are various issues that need to be dealt with and it is important to discuss the issues and the possible solutions now – before and during the campaign for the municipal polls – so that the council, when it is elected, is already aware of what it has to do and how it can be done.
Take for instance the garbage problem in the city. Panjim’s campaign of door-to-door garbage collection may have been successful but this has failed to keep the city free of garbage. The State capital may be binless today, which was the aim, but it is definitely not garbage free. There are garbage heaps on various street corners and old vehicles rusting and falling to bits occupying parking space along the streets. What purpose does it serve if a city has no garbage bins, but has garage on its main streets? A council that does not see this garbage or deliberately turns a blind eye to this does not deserve the people’s confidence. The problem of garbage on the roadside arose simply because the municipal body lifted every bin from Panjim and stopped collection of garbage from the city streets. People then began to dump garbage at street corners and this remains uncollected until the garbage becomes too unsightly a heap and is then carted away.
The St Inez creek is another festering example of how ineffective the corporation has been in taking up issues and problems affecting the city. Campaigns by civil society to clear the creek have not awakened the councillors. The corporation has often made attempts to streamline parking on the city streets but its efforts stop at the planning stage. The implementation doesn’t happen and the chaotic traffic situation continues. These are not the only issues, but they are the ones that draw the most attention.
Panjim, therefore, needs a dynamic council that will clean up the city not just of garbage but of all that is unwanted, including corruption and procrastination. This can come about only if the candidates contesting the election have the interests of the city uppermost and not their own political careers.
