Team Herald
PANJIM: After their civic work dug up dozens of city roads, threw traffic out of gear and missed multiple deadlines – here is the big reveal. Imagine Panaji Smart City Development Limited (IPSCDL) CEO Sanjit Rodrigues admitted on Tuesday that the work had led to the damage of water pipelines in the capital.
If you enjoyed reading this article, you can help support our journalism by adding OHeraldo as a preferred source.
“We have damaged pipelines and snapped cables while executing our work. Though our response time to rectify them may not be acceptable to the people, but we’re making the effort to respond and repair,” Rodrigues stated.
The question of people’s acceptance is pertinent, since Panjim residents’ patience has been running thin after multiple missed deadlines, with even the High Court questioning the pace at which the project is being executed. Data on the ground shows that over 50% of the roadwork in Panjim remain unfinished – while 3,400 metres of roads have been completed, a staggering 3,450 metres are still pending.
None of this seemed to affect Rodrigues too much, who claimed to be confident that the roads would be ready by the March 31 deadline. “As far as roads are concerned, we are fine with the March 31 deadline. As far as sewage is concerned, the major work is at St Inez and Tadmad for which also a deadline has been given. We do not want the public to face inconvenience on the road.”
A candid Rodrigues also admitted to administrative delays, saying, “There are some issues such as how the project will be maintained and handed over. The Chief Minister will hold a review wherein the issue of maintenance will be finalised. Many projects have been completed or are on the verge of completion. The CM is busy with the Assembly session but he has promised that a review will be taken,” he added.
Rodrigues said as far as ticketing on the e-buses is concerned, IPSCDL is going conductor-less in phases and three routes have been made conductor-less, though there is some drop in the number of commuters because of the hesitation about e-payments.
