PANJIM: While some Ponjekars and a section of CCP councillors blame the Mayor for the current mess in the city, Rohit Monserrate appears to have shed the “Junior Monserrate” tag as he enters his second term, “unopposed”.
Locals have seen him in the mornings hitting the ground running, doing inspections, supervising the world, and so on.
If you enjoyed reading this article, you can help support our journalism by adding OHeraldo as a preferred source.
However, as Panjim sinks under the rampant multiple works of the Smart City project, in a rush to complete the monies for these projects, supposedly to avoid the monsoons, the unknowing common man has vented his frustration on the CCP. And that frustrates the Mayor.
He said that it is “frustrating” that despite him being one of the ex-officio members on the Imagine Panaji Smart City Development Ltd (IPSCDL) board and the CCP being a stakeholder, “I have no powers and control over the contractors executing different works under the Smart City Mission.”
Upset over the ongoing works, Rohit Monserrate said “he is running out of patience” as there has been a huge delay in the completion of the Smart City works in the State’s capital. He said, “I am just a member of the smart city board. The main person is the Chief Secretary, who makes all the decisions; it is not us who make day-to-day decisions. We go there basically to approve funding and the projects. That is the most frustrating part. Every work has been tendered out to different agencies. The CCP has no powers and control. At the most, we can only write letters to IPSCDL (custodian vehicle for Smart City works) which we have been doing and asking it to expedite the work.”
33 projects by 11 different government departments mostly related to road infrastructure and laying of sewerage lines and other utilities have been unleashed at one go under the Smart City Mission. “The smart city works have been going on for a long time. We understand the pain of the people. We expect them (contractors) to do a good job quickly,” Monserrate said.
The City Mayor endorsed his father Revenue Minister Atanasio ‘Babush’ Monserrate’s views that the respective government departments and their engineers would be held responsible if Panjim witnesses floods during the monsoon.
“We are carrying out regular inspections and putting pressure on the engineers, and it is frustrating when people blame us for something which we have not done. I understand the CCP is a caretaker of the city, but we don’t have powers to enforce and this is the issue we are facing,” Monserrate admitted.
Pointing to the drains which have been clogged and damaged while executing the Smart City works, Monserrate said that CCP expects the contractors to provide manpower for desilting and repair work.
He said that some of the ongoing works under Smart City Mission are aimed at mitigating the flooding issue in Panjim during monsoons. However, he said that until these works are completed one shouldn’t expect the situation to be better during monsoon this year.
Vishal Rawlley, Environment activist and educator said, “If corrective measures are not taken now then it will lead to disaster during monsoon. We already have seen trucks becoming victims of smart city works. This monsoon we fear, that we may see the worst-ever floods in Panjim.”
Some local residents and a section of CCP Councillors, clearly opposed to him, have blamed the Mayor. “He is the Mayor of the city and has all the required powers. Now, Rohit and local MLA Atanasio Monserrate, who is a minister in the government, are blaming engineers for the present mess in the city,” Surendra Furtado, CCP councillor.
Incidentally, Furtado himself was Mayor and knows that Smart City works are executed outside the CCP’s domain, which was his pet peeve during his tenure.
Councillor Shubham Chodankar, who was more realistic, said, “We are not aware of what is going on until the work starts in our wards and I am sure the Mayor is also facing the same issue. We should be informed well in advance about the nature of work by the Smart City officials so that we are present at the spot and resolve the grievances of the people, if any.”
When O Heraldo tried to contact Vijaykumar Honawad, Chief General Manager of IPSCDL for his comments, he was not available.
