PANJIM: The ongoing road digging works in the capital city have irritated Panjim residents as it has led to other problems for them.
From traffic congestion to the more pressing issue of water supply connections getting damaged, residents have complained to the authorities seeking that these issues be addressed at the earliest.
While PWD is looking into the complaints of water pipelines being damaged and residents and offices getting no or poor water supply, commuters have no choice but to deal with the traffic jam caused by the road digging work. Traffic police officials said they are working on regulating the flow of traffic.
It may be recalled that the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) had issued directions to all contractors/agencies carrying out road digging work, wherein they were asked to expedite such works and then restore the dug-up area to its original condition.
CCP Deputy Mayor Vasant Agshikar said the corporation too would be looking to the grievances of the affected locals.
He explained that Larsen and Toubro (L&T) is currently handling the work for the upcoming Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC) for the Smart City project.
ICCC is expected to be launched for Panjim by mid-December.
“The residents and commuters will face some inconvenience till December as Larsen and Toubro will be completing the project by then. They are reinstalling all roads dug with good quality RMC (ready-made concrete). However, unseasonal rains are causing the issue,” said Ashikar.
He further added that as requested by CCP, Imagine Panaji Smart City Development Ltd (IPSCDL) has set up a coordination mechanism to look into these issues and that CCP is regularly following up with them.
He also said that all the councillors have been given the weekly schedule regarding these works being carried out.
IPSDCL had recently organised a tour for CCP councillors for the ICCC project, which is expected to provide new solutions to the authorities for better management, surveillance and tracking of various works and developments in and around Panjim.
