Congress Slams IPSCDL for Delayed Smart City Projects, Threatens Criminal Action

Team Herald

PANJIM: Slamming the Imagine Panaji Smart City Development Limited (IPSCDL) for failing to meet the March 31 deadline, Congress on Tuesday that it will be forced to initiate criminal proceedings for negligence and misappropriation of public funds.

In a presentation submitted to the CEO of IPSCDL, Congress Panjim Block President Pratibha Borkar said the Congress has resolved to undertake an independent scrutiny of all IPSDCL projects and publicly expose the rampant corruption and fraud being orchestrated under the guise of Smart City development.

The Congress also demanded a white paper detailing full account of all completed and pending works along with expenditure incurred, action against contractors responsible for substandard work, including blacklisting them from future projects and a clear timeline with guaranteed completion dates, failing which IPSCDL must be held accountable before the public and the courts.

“The current state of Panjim is a living testament to the BJP government’s monumental failure. With the monsoons approaching, the reckless delays and disastrous planning will only make matters worse for the people. The government’s and IPSCDL’s actions suggest that their sole intention is to siphon off public funds under the garb of Smart City development with complete disregard for the suffering of common citizens,” Borkar said.

She said, “The so-called ‘Double Engine Sarkar’ has utterly failed to transform Panjim into a Smart City. Instead, since October 14, 2015, when people were first sold a false dream, Panjimites have been left with nothing but a nightmare of broken roads, incomplete projects, substandard infrastructure and a city in ruins. The only thing Smart about this project is how cleverly public funds are being looted under the pretext of development.” Meanwhile The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Goa along with residents of Panjim expressed disappointment and anger over the incomplete work at Taad Maad road in St Inez.

Speaking to mediapersons, AAP Goa Convenor Amit Palekar highlighted that the IPSCDL failed to meet the deadline imposed by the court as most areas were not completed.

He lamented that by now the Panjim should have been developed into a full-fledged Smart City, but the ground reality shows no signs of development.

“It has been four years now, but the roads in St Inez are yet to be completed. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) should be awarded for turning Panjim into a dumb city. This is a corruption of nearly Rs 1400 crore. The government should inform people where Rs 1,400 has been spent. We will see the state of the Smart City roads in the first week of monsoon,” he said.

AAP Goa vice president Valmiki Naik said, “It has been seven years when the Smart City work was started, but no engineer or supervisor was seen in the city. Even I have not seen any officials holding plan and explaining it to the workers. Question is what the residents of the city are going to get after spending Rs 1,400 crore?”