PANJIM: There is absolute chaos in Panjim. There is not a single road that has not been dug. Vehicles are driving through no entry zones, creating havoc. There is no place for parking. All the options of going from destination A to B are blocked. No signs have been put by the contractor that the road ahead is blocked so that an alternate route can be taken, if there is any.
Justices M S Karnik and Nivedita Mehta had asked the Advocate General to give a detailed affidavit regarding timelines of when the road works will be completed. The deadline for completion of works is 31st March.
People may be wondering why roads which have been completed are dug up again. Sanjit Rodrigues, Managing Director & CEO of Imagine Panjim told media that the roads are patched up are completion of the initial sewage works however when a connection has to be made from the old sewage pipeline to the new pipeline, the road has to be dug up again. “Work is going on fast, we hope to meet the deadline of 31st March,” Sanjit Rodrigues said.
Former CCP Mayor Uday Madkaikar when questioned whether the roads would be completed by the March 31,2025 deadline shot back by asking our reporter, “Do you think that the roads will be completed? In 2024 too that had given an assurance to the High Court that they would finish the works by March 2024. They then gave a statement that 90% of the work was done and 10% work was remaining. If you see today, about 30% of the work is remaining. Although Sanjit Rodrigues has assured to complete the works by 31st March 2025, nobody would believe him.”
Madkaikar pointed out that the work had been undertaken by the same builder who has taken up the Pernem Highway, but the work is sub-standard.
Senior Citizen Nicholau Fernandes said, “We do not understand what is going on in Panjim. Is there a Master Plan, I do not know. Today they dig, cover it with hot mix, but the next day they dig it again.
Social Activist Tara Kerkar said the people of Panjim are suffering silently. “For a single work the road is dug three to four times. Sometimes it is for the sewerage line, sometimes it is to construct a gutter, sometimes it is for a road. But the material used is sub-standard.”
It is hoped that the Smart City roads are completed at the earliest and peace if restored to the residents and users of this once beautiful city.