The government has taken us Panjimites for a ride by telling us that Panjim is converted into a Smart City. This is nothing but a lie!!!
Go anywhere in and around the city — nothing ‘Smart’ is seen. Look at the uneven pot-holed roads, decrepit buildings, old abandoned vehicles on the roads, trees which can anytime fall on the travellers and vehicles passing by, noise pollution everywhere, drains not cleaned and water accumulation rampant with no exit, tourists eating food from unsanitary gaddas near Don Bosco, Miramar, St Inez, Caranzalem and everywhere, no safety for children playing on the beach, etc.
What we do see is only money spent in all the wrong places. A beach with multiple samadhis, gardens at the wrong places, casinos rampant at Miramar and jetties, overhead bridge crossing the Miramar road from Sharada Mandir to the beach (nobody including children from school is using this bridge), high rise building are mushrooming without any display approval board, anybody can construct high rise above eighth floor without any permission and authorities are least bothered and turn a Nelson’s eye towards all irregularities. No proper speed limits, no streetlights neither electric poles having proper lighting at night, no signage on the main roads of Dona Paula to Panjim, garbage everywhere, the list can go on and on. We the citizens of Panjim are really in the soup.
Recently, when I was passing from Dona Paula to Panjim via Campal, I noticed these dividers having plastic tiny poles fallen and in dilapidated condition having gaps for any four-wheeler vehicle to pass as the rear vehicle is subjected to bang them. These dividers are of no use. Olden times we had small white painted stones which were enough for the traffic to distinguish them as dividers. These ‘eco-friendly’ and durable stones were replaced with these plastic poles which have turned into black and ugly eye-sores which are quite useless as dividers. This is not called a Smart City.
