Team Herald
PANJIM: The shoddy Smart City works continue to plague to city as water and power supply was disrupted due to digging near Café Bhonsle.
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Woes of the people are likely to continue as the work is far from complete while, the Mala jatra and closure of old Mandovi bridge from Saturday will further choke the city.
The road from the Ram Mandir and Masjid up to the St Francis Xavier Chapel at Portais, has been closed for vehicular traffic. The motorists regularly travelling on this road were now using the Mala road but this route will be shut on Friday due to Hanuman Jatra at Shri Maruti Temple, Mala-Panjim.
The PWD has also ordered closure of the Old Mandovi bridge for all types of vehicular traffic from February 8 to 23 to carry out work such as milling of the existing wearing course, laying mastic asphalt and bituminous concrete.
Reacting to the traffic mess in the city, former CCP Mayor and councillor Uday Madkaikar said that Smart City works were undertaken without proper planning. “There was no planning from the day one and the works were not carried out in a phased manner. It is unfortunate that the officials and contractors are now doing mapping of drains, which should have been done before executing the works. It appears that the ongoing work of laying sewerage lines will take at least a month to complete it.”
Raju Vadavadekar, a resident of Bhatlem said, “There will be traffic congestion at Bhatlem and Mala particularly on Friday as four-wheelers will not be allowed to use the Mala road due to jatra on Friday. There is no proper diversion of traffic and it will cause lot of hardships to the people. No one listens to residents and there is no accountability.”
On the other hand, the entire road in front of Café Bhonsle and the square has been dug making it difficult for the people even to walk. To add to the woes of nearby commercial establishments and residents, the power supply was disrupted as electricity cables were damaged on Wednesday while, water supply pipeline was broken on Thursday during digging.
Panjim resident Adv Rui Ferreira said, “As a citizen of Panjim, I regularly go to the square in front of Café Bhonsle. I was shocked to see that the entire triangle shaped square was broken down and the road dug. Sewage is also flowing there. People used sit in the square and read newspapers. Some students who could not afford proper lights at home would come here to study. It was also a meeting point for many but the entire square has been damaged. What is the planning and what is the next step, nobody knows. They are destroying instead of constructing something better. There is complete destruction of Panjim.”
Raj Vaidya, a pharmacist said, “There is lot of chaos. The work is not systematic. People are not given prior information about the closure of roads and works are carried out as per the whims of Smart City officials. There are neither signages nor barricades placed where works are carried out. There is absolute no responsibility with so many sub-contractors and sub-supervisors. The road closures has affected the shopkeepers and other businessmen.
Altaf Khan, a shopkeeper said, “The workers damaged the water supply pipeline. On Wednesday, our power supply was disrupted. CCP Deputy Mayor Sanjeev Naik met us and requested to bear the inconvenience caused for 15 days. I hope that the ongoing work will be completed as per schedule and there be no further hardships.
