As the chaos around the capital city of Panjim gets murkier, the authorities handling the Smart City Project and the civic body officials are expected to be in the line of fire.
Imagine Panaji Smart City Development Limited (IPSCDL), the special-purpose vehicle (SPV) created to fast-track the smart city project has indeed slowed down the development of the city. Like the backbencher in any class, IPSCDL has woken up from slumber just before the project completion deadlines and has turned the whole of the capital city and areas under its jurisdiction into a war-hit zone.
Panjim was among the 13 cities selected in the second list of cities in June 2017, for the “100 Smart Cities Mission” launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 25, 2015. However, between 2017 and 2022, the progress has only been that of digging up the city on multiple occasions. Dreams of wifi connected city had been sold to the city dwellers along with ease of accessing the civic facilities.
What one can see today is a city that has been torn apart and massive digging to construct new drains. One wonders what the mandate of the IPSCDL was and what has been the results even after five years of the project. It is no secret that the former mayors of the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) had always been at loggerheads with the then Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer until he was shunted out in October 2020.
Driving has become difficult in the city, thus if one takes a bumpy ride on a two-wheeler across the capital, one will be exposed to the facts that the IPSCDL has been carrying out works of constructing drains, laying pavers, etc, which raises a question on the duplication of mandate. If these are the works of the smart city SPV then what is the work that Public Works Department (PWD) is meant to carry out?
The irony is that when you visit the CCP’s website and scroll through the smart city page, Dr Shyama Mukherjee Indoor Stadium’s photograph is the highlight, which is located in Taleigao and has nothing to do with the smart city project nor with the CCP’s jurisdiction.
Speaking about the CCP, the civic body officials have come under public scrutiny due to the sheer negligence of duty and issuing vehicle stickers to the residents of Sao Tome area without any purpose mentioned to them. The residents were in for a shock to receive the obscure stickers as the CCP was yet to decide the design of the stickers for residents to have the waiver against pay parking in the area, even when the Sao Tome area has been declared as a ‘no motorized zone’ (NoMoZo).
The CCP Commissioner clarified that the stickers were indeed for the vehicles of the locals to access the NoMoZo, however, the stickers neither have the purpose mentioned on them nor any vehicle number.
The tourism season this year for the capital is marred by the inaccessibility of the city for those who turned out in large numbers during the several events that the government and its agencies hosted, including the International Film Festival of India (IFFI). The sorry state of affairs continues to damage the image of the capital with not just the local residents of Panjim but every individual visiting the city having to face complete inconvenience.
Thus, the government needs to step its approach in the developmental works that it undertakes. It is understood that some inconvenience has to be borne by the citizens while authorities carryout repair and construction work. But how far is it fair to jeopardise the lives of the locals for months at a stretch?
The Urban Development ministry should streamline the affairs of the CCP and ensure that the citizens are relieved from the constant sufferings despite being a capital city.
On the other hand, a thorough review of each and every work planned, tendered, and executed is the duty of the government and its officials. However, in view of the haphazard work execution and allegations of substandard work and massive corruption, the government should order a vigilance probe into the affairs of the IPSCDL and all the works undertaken by the SPV under the Smart Mission project.
