The pollution of the St Inez creek is one of the major issues haunting Panjim constituency that five-time MLA Manohar Parrikar failed to tackle. For much over a decade now, the St Inez Creek has been crying out for attention. Looked upon as one of the most beautiful of water bodies in past, today what flows along with the water in the creek, ranges from garbage to plastic to human excreta.
The reason for the neglect could be the tussle between the Congress governments of the past and the local BJP MLA and the Corporation of the City of Panaji.
A first step towards cleaning up the creek was taken recently, when Parrikar with Mayor Surendra Furtado got the detailed plan report (DPR) on the creek amounting to almost Rs 35 crore sent to the Union Urban Development Ministry’s Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee (CSMC) for the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) in 2013. The Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) played a vital role in ensuring that the project gets through and JNNURM has already sanctioned Rs 19.5 crore for the project.
Though, many promises were made to take up the creek’s beautification on a priority basis no steps were taken until 2013.
Parrikar, who was elected from Panjim for the first time in 1994, when the Congress returned to power, was not able to do much for the creek.
Even during his tenure as Leader of Opposition from 2007-2012, when he was the chairman of sub-committee appointed to clear city projects under JNNURM, he failed to clear this crucial project due to the lethargy of the then Congress government in preparing a full-fledged DPR in 2010-11.
The Rs 20 crore project was rejected by Central government, due to delay in submitting the plan.
It was only in late 2013, that the government sent a fresh DPR to the Union government for sanction of funds that the project was approved. Post the sanctioning of funds, the project continues to remain in limbo, with lack of co-operation from the Goa Infrastructure Development Corporation (GSIDC), the nodal agency for implementation of the project, despite Rs 1.5 crore installment been released by the government.
GSIDC now proposes to redraft the DPR for re-sanctioning under JNNURM, as their estimates place the total project cost at Rs 70 crore.
The project includes a clean-up of the water body and beautification of the creek’s banks, right from its mouth near old GMC to Camarabhat.
The walls and adjoining pavements are to be aesthetically designed with laterite stones, lawns, benches and streetlights, and those living on either side of the creek are to be rehabilitated.
The creek originates at Taleigao, flows through Camrabhat, Tamddi Mati, Tonca, continues past the Military Hospital, Don Bosco High School and ESG complex and then empties itself into Mandovi River.
