Was a 23-member tour to Indore by Panjim’s custodians the smartest one?

Imagine Smart City Development Limited (IPSCDL) has come in the spotlight following a tour of 23 delegates to Indore city. At the backdrop of the controversies surrounded after the trips of tourism, garbage and MMC, the IPSCDL may burst open in yet another fresh encounter.

The delegation of 23 people, which included IPSCDL MD and CEO Swayandipta Pal Chaudhuri, Director Siddharth Kunkalienkar, Associate Manager along with Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) Commissioner Ajit Roy, Deputy Mayor Asmita Kerkar, two municipal engineers and councillors both from the ruling and opposition, the junket to Indore has become the centre of a heated debate between residents of the city and the IPSCDL. Was the tour to the Indore City really required, some citizens asked.

The recently concluded three days visit to Indore city was organised to get the first hand information on how the Madhya Pradesh city attained No 1 clean city in India title and also to get a firsthand experience looking at their door to door garbage collections, mechanisms of the same till it is taken to sorting station and then to the centralised processing and material recovery facility.

However, IPSCDL CEO and MD, Chaudhuri justified the trip stating that this is a common phenomenon where the government of India encourages these study visits claiming that if you don’t see you don’t know.

“We had received the invitation letter from Indore Smart City and Municipal Corporation and based on that a government approval was taken. All was done according to the mission guidelines. Not a single person who is not eligible was taken. The total cost of the trip was approximately Rs 5 lakh and the funding will be done through ANOE budget which are Central funds.” said Chaudhuri.

He further assured the entire trip was completely based on the Amrut guidelines while claiming that it is permissible and that the centre writes us to do such exposure visits to get first hand information.

The IPSCDL has also got another request from Mizoram that their10-member delegation is coming to Panjim on a two-day visit to see all smart city projects.

The entire three-day tour to Indore cost approximately cost IPSCDL Rs 5 lakh, including return airfare, lodging, breakfast and transport. In the end, when calculated, the cost of the trip comes to Rs 21,739 per person.

Was a delegation of 23 persons really required to study the smartness of Indore City, wondered a resident of Panjim. Will a report be filed on the trip and what points the delegation has observed in Indore will be applied to Panjim, asked another resident of the city.

However, GSIDC Vice Chairman Siddharth Kunkolienkar and IPSCDL CEO Swayandipta Chaudhuri, who got an opportunity to visit the Indore City earlier, were highly impressed with the Smart City initiatives adopted by the Indore Municipal Corporation.

“The team learnt valuable lessons in waste management from Indore Municipal Corporation Commissioner Manish Singh and additional commissioner and CEO Indore Smart City Development Limited Rohan Saxena. The team also interacted with field level staff and citizens to know how good practices were adopted to maintain the city,” said former MLA and EDC Chairman Siddharth Kunkalienkar.

Another citizen wondered if this trip of 23 persons was needed after Siddharth and Chaudhuri had made a trip earlier to Indore and why a report was not filed about their findings.