PANJIM: Alleging that there is a major scam regarding Panjim’s Smart City Mission (SCM) and AMRUT projects worth Rs 669 crore, Citizens for Democracy (CFD) has demanded for transparency from the government on the total expenditure of Imagine Panaji Smart City Development Ltd (IPSCDL).
While addressing media persons, activists Avertano Miranda, Shailendra Velingkar, scientist Dr Joe D’Souza and Congressman Elvis Gomes said they will approach the Governor on this, alleging that the exchequer had been defrauded and that these funds had been siphoned off.
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Gomes added that this amount is much higher in comparison to the Rs 70 crore job scam as alleged by Panjim MLA Atanasio Monserrate, who is on the IPSDCL board.
As per information available on the national SCM dashboard, the Centre has released Rs 196 crore to Goa, of which Rs 118 crore was transferred to IPSCDL and the State government has provided Rs 113 crore. IPSCDL utilised Rs 116 crore and has given work orders of Rs 356 crore for 18 projects.
As per information from the State Urban Development Department, IPSCDL has received a total of Rs 191.20 crore, out of which Rs 118.20 crore is from the Centre and Rs 73 crore from the State.
Gomes lamented that many councillors and citizens are unaware of the project and that there is hardly any information on the websites of the Corporation of the City of Panjim (CCP) and IPSCDL. SCM’s ‘Robust Electronic Information Systems’ are supposed to give information on the click of a button, he added.
CFD shared data on the projects being implemented by private consultants and those that are yet to be executed by government departments.
The first was about the implementation of the Master System Integrator for Goa Intelligent City Management System, where the total cost is Rs 180 crore and the company contracted has been paid Rs 22.49 crore as ‘mobilisation advance’.
“This is for CCTV cameras. Such a high amount could have been used for the State of Goa and not Panjim alone. Moreover the mission period of this project of 5 years had expired and it was recently extended to June 2023,” Gomes added.
CFD reiterated that a probe was needed into these projects.
Another company was paid Rs 32 lakh as ‘pre-tendering’ consultation fees for the restoration, refurbishment and interior design of IPSCDL’s office premises.
“Why pre-tendering?” Miranda asked.
Elsewhere, Rs 14.6 lakh was paid to another company for the ‘Smart Radios Wireless’ project (setting up a network with a mass tower for Panjim). CFD lamented that no details are available regarding the progress of this project.
“No details were available regarding the project worth Rs 42 crore, to convert Ribandar’s overhead power lines to underground cabling as well”, CFD said.
IPSCDL has also paid Rs 28 lakh to a company for submitting an ‘Inception Report’ for the Comprehensive Mobility Plan for the State of Goa and Parking Master Plan for Panjim.
CFD mocked the quality of this 55-page-long ‘Panjim Parking Policy’ report, which incidentally compared Panjim to Barcelona.
They cited the example of how Rs 95 crore was paid to engage another firm for ‘Comprehensive Project Management’ which included consultancy for design, review, detailed engineering and project management of various urban infrastructures. “Such fancy terminology is being used to confuse the people,” Gomes quipped.
CFD then brought up the Rs 398 crore deposited by IPSCDL with government departments and alleged that the tender process followed was flawed being tailor made to suit some contractors without fair competition.
For instance, PWD – Div III, Panjim has been given Rs 135 crore for the Sewerage Network Project. While 3 years is the time completion for this project, Rs 120 crore has been given to the Goa State Urban Development Agency (GUSDA) for smart road projects, which has to be completed in 18 months. This, Gomes said means the Smart City roads would be completed before laying the underground sewerage network, thus resulting in breakage of these roads and wastage of funds. He asked why the Sewerage Corporation was ignored for this project.
CFD added that some projects could go on for years, like the Rs 90 crore given to the Water Resources Department (WRD) for the St Inez creek rejuvenation project and the Rs 30 crore for the Campal football ground project.
PWD Div III has been given Rs 15 crore for the upgradation of OPA Water Works (TP) and another Rs 8 crore for Smart City meters.
Gomes felt such random selection and execution by multiple government departments’ with no proper coordination will create major problems in the future.
Miranda also questioned why the Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC) was being roped in for procuring ‘smart buses’ after its ‘Hop In-Hop Of’ buses for Panjim were a failure.
He recalled how the two ‘unused’ bio-diesel buses were rotting at the KTC depot and that the amphibious bus and sea plane failed to take off as well.
On IPSCDL’s functioning, Gomes pointed out that IPSCDL had failed to file any returns for the last 3 years with the Registrar of Companies or any audited Report of 2018-19; 2019-20 as on date.
CFD also lamented that the Smart City plan had no mention about the impact of casinos on residents.
