Anil Mishra
anilkumar@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: Imagine Panaji Smart City Development Limited (IPSCDL) CEO Sanjit Rodrigues may have said recently that Smart City works had been completed and “there would be no road closure, no barricade”, but a round of the city’s roads and bylanes presents a completely different picture.
A lane near Patanjali Mega Store on 18th June Road is closed and the digging work is underway. Barricades continue to block the area near Cafe Bhonsle. Almost half of Atmaram Borkar Road is shut as sewage pipelines are being laid near Dr T B Cunha Higher Secondary School at Campal.
As the saying goes, the more things change, the more they remain the same.
Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) Mayor Rohit Monserrate also seemed frustrated with the slow pace of work. “We are fed up with Smart City work. They should be out of the city by now. The work is sub-standard and a lot of people have issues with it. I have told IPSCDL officials that I will carry out an inspection of the work in the first week of May and see the quality of work. If they start work on 18th June Road then it will take at least one month to finish because it is a long stretch. Let us see what happens during the monsoon," he said.
A business owner, on condition of anonymity, said, “I don’t know why the Smart City work is not ending. It keeps getting fresh deadlines. A road near EDC building is half shut for so many days, and we do not know when the full road will be ready for use."
Another shop keeper near the Patanjali Mega Store said, “Earlier, we faced inconvenience because of digging on 18th June Road. Now, this bylane has been shut from one side. I don’t know how long these works will continue.”
Dr Odette Lobo, a resident of the city, said, “Is this a Smart City? They are claiming that work is complete, but the fact is that 18th June Road, Dr Pissurlekar Road, AtmaramBorkar Road and Old Patto Bridge to Income Tax Office and Handicrafts building to Four Pillar Junction are yet to be done. Why did the authorities not announce in the beginning itself that these roads will not be ready March 31, 2025?"