Panjim losing out on Central grants
JOE D’SOUZA
Panjim and the idea of its development under JNNURM was first initiated in early 2006, when the Central government chose Panjim, the capital, as a city for urban renewal under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission.
Immediately thereafter in December 2006, HUDCO was assigned the task of drafting a Comprehensive Development and Management Plan and a Stakeholders meeting was called on 20 December 2006. The details of the mobility plans, e-governance, solid waste management, urban renewal and heritage, revitalization of St. Inez creek, augmentation of water supply and sewerage system of the capital, rehabilitation of the urban poor and mandatory reforms necessary to take recourse to the JNNURM funds to the tune of 80 per cent of the project costs were discussed threadbare with the various stakeholders.
The comprehensive Development and Management Plan was painstakingly and appropriately prepared in 2007 and submitted both to the then Chief Minister of Goa, Shri Pratapsingh Rane as well as the Commissioner of the CCP by HUDCO, New Delhi. The State level Steering Committee was soon constituted by the Rane government to study and approve the CDMP prepared by HUDCO and forwarded to the Urban Development Ministry of the Goa government, which was designated as the ‘Nodal Agency’ for the JNNURM mission for Goa, under GSUDA. Between 2007 and 2008, several meetings were held under the chairmanship of Pratapsingh Rane and the steering committee prioritized the various projects mentioned earlier to be considered for the purpose of preparing the Detailed Project Reports (DPRs). These DPRs were prepared between 2008 to 2012 by JNNURM empanelled consultants, after inviting bids and undergoing other legal processes required by the tendering processes and procedures.
The major consultants were Groupe SCE, a French consultancy service with its Indian base at Bangalore. This consultancy service was responsible for preparing DPRs on a comprehensive Mobility Plan for Panjim, worth around Rs 800 crores. It also prepared the DPR on Urban Renewal, Heritage, Parks and Gardens as well as Housing for the Urban Poor. Similarly, Shah Consultancy services devised the DPR for the water supply and sewerage network for the city. Incidentally, the CCP has only received around Rs 3 crore for Heritage, Parks and Gardens and the Government of Goa, through PWD, has received a sanction of Rs 70 crore for the Water Supply distribution network from JNNURM, New Delhi during the last eight years.
Similarly, e-governance at the CCP received a shot in the arm when Uppasani-Jain, the consultants for undertaking reforms in administrative measures were granted sanction to introduce state-of-the-art computerization at the CCP and ensure a double entry system for the collection of revenue and expenditure network. However, utilizing the Rs 18 crore granted in principle to us remains questionable.
But CCP has a long way to go to ensure compliance of JNNURM’s mandatory reforms, which include revamping of the Rent Control Act and modernizing the obsolete tax structures. It took the new Parrikar government over 16 months in office to call for a meeting of the State Steering Committee of JNNURM. This was held on 26 July 2013 for the first time after over two-and-a-half years, since the last meeting was held during the period of Digambar Kamat’s tenure as the CM in 2011. That last meeting failed to forward the Solid Waste Management project to New Delhi, though it had undertaken to immediately take up the Rs 35 crore SWM project of Tetra Techn, New Delhi. This involved ‘Windrow Composting Technology’, which is conducive to the treatment of Goan garbage. However, surprisingly, not only was this appropriate and very relevant high technology shelved by GSIDC officials, but Sanjith Rodrigues presented a ‘so called’ inhouse project for SWM worth Rs 9700 lakh to be forwarded to JNNURM, New Delhi. Why the Tetra Tech project worth around Rs 35 crore was shelved, inspite of the consultants assuring us that they would defend the project during its presentation to the High Level Evaluating Monitoring Committee at New Delhi, seems intriguing. Alas! The grants to the JNNURM projects would terminate in March 2014 and Goa would have failed to send the DPRs in its complete form to New Delhi by that date. Goa surely would tend to lose over Rs 1000 crores of Central funds.
Further, the DPR by WAPCOS, a consultant from Gurgaon, for Rs 33 crore on the beautification of St. Inez creek seems the best bet to receive approval from JNNURM, as the project was begging attention since 2008 and was thoroughly studied and approved by the Parrikar sub-committee and State level Steering Committee (SLSC) of JNNURM in the past. The Comprehensive Mobility Plan (CMP) was allegedly sought to be hijacked by LKS of Spain through GSIDC. However, the Chief Minister ensured that the French plans of 2008 were approved and forwarded to New Delhi at the meeting held on 26 July 2013.
I am however skeptical that New Delhi would approve a Rs. 800 crore ambitious plan on CMP. Again, I wonder why a duplicate project was prepared by LKS with a few architects. I, however, am convinced that the Rs 97 crores DPR on Solid Waste Management sought to be submitted by GSIDC, without approval from CCP corporators as well as without technical appraisal and sanction by the PWD would be rejected as an unviable, capital intensive and technical irrelevant for garbage treatment for Panjim city. With Rs 100 crore, one could have a pharmaceutical fermentation facility producing insulin or other growth hormones. Is Rs 100 crore expenditure on an SWM facility appropriate? Who would the people of Goa blame if New Delhi rejects or sends back the DPR for modification or re-consideration?
Will Parrikar blame the Centre or the Centre accuse Parrikar for the wrong? Only time will tell.
