Panjim Mayor, Shubham Chodankar envisages with glee that the Smart City Project will bear fruit for Goa’s capital city. Saying that the views of citizens will be kept in mind, the mayor also acknowledged the fact that funds will be looked into at a later stage and that preparing the plan is more important. Team Herald has a conversation with him to find out his views on the importance of the porject to Panjim
Herald: Will the Smart City Development concept work for Panjim?
Shubham Chodankar: Definitely! The concept is something, where for the first time, citizen’s views are considered for planning of the city. Government will work on all those priorities that people have highlighted. We have received over 6000 suggestions and comments from various individuals, which shows that people are excited and want their city to be Smart.
Herald: There are apprehensions raised that the Smart City Mission may follow in the footsteps of the JNNURM which didn’t seem to work out for Panjim.
Chodankar: No, I don’t think so. There were reasons why JNNURM failed and we could not get any funds under the scheme. CCP had no technical experts to draft or study the proposals under JNNURM. There were delays right from the administration level to the government level in submitting proposals. But in the case of Smart City, we will be setting up a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) which will plan, appraise, approve, release funds, implement and evaluate the smart city development projects.
Herald: While drafting the smart city proposal, will the consultant consider all the existing developmental plans? Or will it be fully based on new inputs?
Chodankar: The consultant has already announced that the Holistic Master Plan would be based for drafting the Smart City proposal. Other plans like city the development plan, sanitation plan etc would be also studied and incorporated, wherever needed.
Herald: Apart from the Central government funding of Rs 500 crore, the State along with the CCP will have to spend an equal amount. Can the CCP, which is reeling under huge losses bear this burden?
Chodankar: Since we can manage the funds we have taken the initiative. But at present we are just focusing on the second stage, which is preparing the plan and getting it approved. Financial stage will come later.
Smart City Project will not work for Goa: Surendra Furtado
The former mayor of the CCP, Surendra Furtado sits down to have a conversation with the Herald where he acknowledges the fact that the Smart City project will not work out for the capital city. Stating that Rs 500 crore will have to be matched by the state government over five years, Furtado questioned where the money will come from
Herald: Are you in support of the Smart City concept? If yes, why? If no, why?
Surendra Furtado: The Smart City concept will not work for Goa because whatever funds are sent by the centre has to be equally matched by the State government and the CCP. Rs 500 Crore sent by the centre over five years will have to be matched by the CCP and State government. That means Rs 100 crore a year. Where will this money come from? Taxes will have to be raised massively. When I was the Mayor, I had got Rs 300 crore sanctioned from the central government with hardly any conditions (unlike the conditions imposed by the smart city scheme) which was returned by the BJP government barring the 24/7 water supply scheme which I managed to start and is nearing completion. But St Inez creek upgradation and beautification, Bainguinim garbage treatment plant, E- governance for CCP, Heritage maintenance etc were sabotaged by the BJP.
Herald: Do you believe Smart City will help develop the city further or the existing plans are better?
Furtado: The existing plans are being touched up and are being presented in a glossier way. All my plans during my tenure as Mayor are being pilfered. Whether it be the Smart City or the existing plans, both are good but political willpower is lacking apart from financial constraints.
Herald: Do you feel smart city will follow JNNURM?
Furtado: When I was the Mayor, I managed to get Rs 300 crore from the then Congress central government towards 24/7 water supply scheme for Panjim and Taleigao (work almost completed), St Inez Creek cleanup and beautification, Heritage maintenance, E-Governance for CCP, Bainguinim garbage treatment plant etc. But barring the 24/7 water supply scheme which I got off the ground, the rest of the schemes were sabotaged by the BJP by not releasing central funds when the Narendra Modi government took over. I feel the Smart City scheme will die a natural death because of fund constraints.
Herald: Should Smart City be handled by the CCP or GSIDC?
Furtado: CCP should take over the Smart City work if the organisation has to grow. As Mayor, I had asked for a technical cell for the CCP on the lines of that which was given to GSIDC. The CCP will be better poised to understand the needs of the city and its residents
