Smart city
or scam city?
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The much-discussed developmental initiative, the ‘Goa Smart City Project’, has come under scrutiny in public eye. They made the city look shabby. Such projects should involve consultation with everyone to ensure quality and inclusivity. Recent allegations and statement by AAP Goa chief Adv Amit Palekar shows that the appalling situation of roads in the city. In past also, the Congress had alleged that the Smart City project in the capital city is a scam of Rs 1,000 crore. The roads are dug up multiple times. And the roads appear like Malgudi Days tales.
The project aims to provide area-based development and urban solutions, including improvements in roads and transportation. This is not a Smart city but a scam city. And it’s very unfortunate and should not have happened. It seems that all these projects are to extract moneys in the name of big footpaths and other routine work.
This is just part of the city and not a smart city. The situation is the same everywhere. The city is yet to see the completion of even a single project. The Smart City projects are progressing at a slower pace primarily because of the unavailability of old plans of utility lines laid beneath the roads.
In June 2021, a section of the medai had pointed out how PWD floated tenders for the project without undertaking a detailed study and estimate of the sewerage project in six wards of Panaji.
K G Vilop, Chorao
ASER is a mixed bag
but there’s hope
During the Covid–19 pandemic, school going children were one of the badly affected sections of the country as extended lockdowns, inaccessible internet, and a general fear psychosis pushed them as well as their parents to the wall. However, post-pandemic, school education appears to be looking up especially over the last couple of years in certain states although a few states still have some way to go.
Foundational skills, so critical for children upto class two to catch the basics, and numeracy have shown remarkable improvement in several states. Both the primary and secondary school children have displayed learning recovery but the heartening feature of the ” Annual Status of Education Report 2024″(ASER) lies in the fact the trend has been more pronounced among primary school children.
That the 2025 report is only the second ASER report after the pandemic makes it significant. 649491 children over 17997 villages in India’s 605 districts were assessed by ASER. In government schools, across some states, arithmetic skills and reading have even upstaged pre-pandemic levels.
But enrolment in government schools in the 6–14 age group has fallen, with a shift to private institutions.
Ganapathi Bhat, Akola
Of bursting pipelines
and water shortage
In Goa, residents may face water shortage or there could be restricted water supply through the taps, however, ironically lakhs of litres of water is lost every year due to bursting of pipelines. In a classic case of water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink, on Sunday the residents of Bhatlem and surrounding areas reportedly scrambled to save their belongings after a 600 MLD pipeline supplying water to Taleigao and Dona Paula burst, sending thousands of liters of water gushing.
Be that as it may, disruption in water supply due to bursting of pipelines has been occurring in the state at a disturbing frequency. It may be recalled that in April 2024 Smart City works damaged an underground water pipeline at Miramar. In March 2023, a key PWD pipeline supplying drinking water from the Assonora treatment plant to parts of Bardez burst at Tivim. Incessant digging has led to bursting of underground water pipelines at various places in the state, leading to loss of thousands of liters of potable water.
It is learnt that 32% potable water is lost due to pipeline leakage in South Goa. Goa, despite having a copious annual rainfall, the rivers have very low flow for the non-monsoon months resulting in scarcity of drinking water for the period especially in the months of April to early June. Bursting of water pipelines is making things only worse. Utmost care needs to be taken while carrying out digging activities.
Adelmo Fernandes, Vasco
Withhold celebrations
over the Budget
It is usually the practice of the treasury benches to thump the desks whenever the Finance Minister presents the Union budget for a financial year and announces a change in the existing benefits or provisions of rules. The headlines in the press this year were in tune with the claim of the government that the budget is a people’s budget benefiting particularly the middle class. There is no denying the fact that the new Income Tax slab as presented looks favourable with the raising of the rebate in income tax from a maximum of Rs 25000 for income upto Rs 7 lakhs to maximum of Rs 60000 for income upto Rs 12 lakhs. However, all may not be as rosy as it is looks. There is complete silence about the withdrawal of several exemptions and deductions that were available under the old tax regime.
For example under Sec 80-C, a deduction of Rs 1.50 lakhs was allowed for investment in PPF etc ; under Sec 80 TTB, deduction of Rs 50,000 was allowed in amount of interest from savings; interest paid on Home loan upto 2 lakhs was deductible; under Sec 80 D, medical insurance premium paid upto Rs 50,000 was allowed to be deducted from income; under Sec 80 CCD, contribution to NPS upto Rs 50,000 was deductible. So also HRA etc. All these are apparently withdrawn. Therefore, it will be prudent for us to withhold the celebrations over the budget announcement for the present and wait to read the fine print in the ensuing Income Tax Bill.
Rodney de Souza, Assagao
