TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: The long pending redevelopment and beautification work on St Inez Creek may soon be a reality, with Union Urban Development Ministry sanctioning Rs 19.56 crore under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, CCP Mayor Surendra Furtado announced Tuesday.
The ministry would also be sanctioning another Rs 10.5 crore for the rehabilitation of the hutment dwellers along the creek, the Mayor said.
Addressing media persons, Furtado said the project cleared by Central Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee under JNNURM includes de-silting, beautification, construction of road, pavement from Camrabhat till Campal near old GMC complex. “A five meter buffer zone on the either side of the creek would be maintained. The structures falling under the same would be relocated,” he added. The St Inez creek has been a long festering sore in the heart of the city, which has been the focus of many public campaigns and political promises.
Furtado also announced that Panjim city might soon see world class ‘hop-in hop-out’ bus service on the lines of Germany and England, connecting the city with its interiors and neighbourhoods, if CCP’s Rs 800 crore comprehensive mobility plan is sanctioned by the Union Ministry.
CCP’s Rs 800 crore project includes Rs 100 crore street lighting, Rs 50 crore world class bus facilities, multi-level parking, tar roads, footpaths and other developmental projects for Panjim. “The project has already received in-principle approval,” the Mayor confirmed.
The Corporation has so far managed to get Rs 20 crore for e-governance, Rs 3.5 crore for heritage conservation, Rs 72 crore for solid waste management and now 19.56 crore for St Inez creek under JNNURAM. Hence, CCP has urged government seeking permission for creation of special technical cell to execute JNNURM projects.
Furtado said he had submitted a letter to the Directorate of Municipal Administration since ‘presently, there is limited technical staff at the CCP to handle works which will be sanctioned under JNNURM by creating a technical cell under the Chief Engineer with all technical powers to accord sanctions, approvals, tendering and supervision till the completion and commissioning of the projects’.
