The CCP is pumping energy and getting its work done which is a good change for the long neglected Panjim city

Little did it augur that my scheduled trip to Panjim in the morning recently would be as adventurous. Whilst pausing at my first pits-stop, I noticed a flurry of activity near San Tome Chapel. 

The hectic activity along the footpaths caught the eye of the morning hour office goers and traffic, I passed by, only to be pulled by a strong afterthought, turning around Panjim Church to head back along 31st January Road, straight to where the hardworking Corporation of the City of Panjim (CCP) supervisor was keen to ensure the last fallen dry leaves from the drains were cleared.

I walked up to the supervisor who identified himself as Sandip Patil, who informed that it was their routine cleanliness drive for the CCP to keep Goa’s capital city clean but today was power-driven by a head team positioned a little ahead who were piloting the cause.

The man in the thick of action was of course, Agnelo Fernandes, the new CCP Commissioner along with Lorraine Dias, lady councillor Ward 27, and joined by happy ward residents and encouraged by a passionate father Tony Dias, who in his impeccable style went about greeting the residents, cracking jokes and keeping the crew in good humour.

Munching a hot crispy samosa on a not-so-rainy July morning, Fernandes was happy a passer-by from Margao, stopped to take note. When our authorities function – out-of-the-box, it is taken for granted, but walk up encouragingly to the team, notice the change in work delivery and how their enthusiasm receives a boost.

Fernandes and I go a long way, having met on several successful initiatives for Margao during his tenure in the Commercial Capital of Goa — Margao. The best was the effort to save age old trees like, teak, tamarind, mango and Terminalia Elliptica or The ‘Indian Laurel’, which is the ‘State tree of Goa’, that were clandestinely proposed to be felled to make way for parking space at the behest of a arbitrarily functioning private hospital with local politicians including a former area councillor.

If today, the 75 plus year old trees are yet deeply rooted, it’s only thanks to the zealous efforts of astute, nature loving bureaucrats like Fernandes, who walk the talk, wherever he is posted.

The CCP with Fernandes has been instrumental in restoring fallen trees in Panjim post cyclone Tauktae. Invited by Fernandes and his crew to join them, we walked through the ward by lanes behind General Post Office (GPO), Hotel Ashoka, age old-style residential houses of tradition and heritage of an old Panjim conservation area, from grilled windows came out greetings — Bom Dia (Good Morning in Portuguese) and Dev Boro Dis Dium (Konkani) from applauding senior citizens. This is the pulse of Panjim, which the CCP is tapping right!

Fernandes – on the forefront and aggressive, cautioning against unkempt tree shoots, outgrown roots, misplaced and broken tiles and wrongly parked motorbikes on footpaths.

Finally, we faced the Rua de Ourem Creek. Now quite in its lost glory of yesteryears.

These were the very streets as kids we played, learnt bicycles and the leisurely evenings at the creek watching anglers, “shinanyo’ seekers (today, over farming and pollution has ensured no “shinanyo” there) and families with children on their evening stroll, hopping across to the Old Patto via the old bridge onto a barren field, where today, the high-rise top commercial concrete bay of Panjim stands.

Residents of the area, Dias — father and daughter reminisced the wonder years growing up in a different Panjim era. Things then were different, are dissimilar now, the old benches where senior citizens sat are broken, and before the rot set in came the CCP tour where instantly came a plan of a recreational area from Fernandes and Lorraine to restore the lost glory. Surely, a task cut out for the Mayor and the Panjim MLA. 

Pointing out to a jutting cable, Fernandes ordered displaced tiles to be rectified, so that pedestrians do not stumble on the footpaths. The cleanliness drive continues and Fernandes returned to CCP to awaiting citizens eager to capitalise on the last day of the week. 

The morning although it took our time off, was a super example for municipalities and panchayats across Goa. If the individual elected to power has work culture and work centric bureaucrats and councillors unite, the effort of the Mayor and MLA will add up to a magnificent work pyramid, resulting into a Smart City. 

Goa needs it now. That CCP means business — is pumping energy and getting its work done which is a good change for the long neglected Panjim city.