By Rajan Narayan
TILL a decade ago, the city of Panaji was still a decent place to live in. There were no fancy roads. But the existing roads were not full of potholes. There were problems with the drainage. It was still manageable. There were no fancy bus stops like the ones created by the Imagine Panaji Smart City Development Ltd projects. But our old bus stops had provisions for sitting and a roof to protect commuters from the rain and sun.
Goa’s once charming town city Panaji had problems but they were manageable. It was only after Panaji was selected for the smart city project by the Central government that the decline and destruction of Panaji commenced.
ON the face of it, Sanjit Rodrigues was the right choice for heading the smart city projects. Sanjit was one of the favorites of the late chief minister Manohar Parrikar. As chief minister Parrikar appointed Sanjit Rodrigues as a commissioner of the newly formed Corporation of the City of Panaji. Originally the CCP was to include Merces, Santa Cruz, and even parts of Porvorim.
In the face of Opposition from vested interests, the CCP remained limited to Panaji. Indeed, on the insistence of Atanasio Babush Monserrate even Taleigao panchayat area was separated from Panaji.
Sanjit started his tenure as commissioner of CCP on a very high note. Sanjit pioneered the excellent door-to-door collection of dry and wet garbage from residential homes. Panaji was the first city in Goa to have succeeded in 100% home-to-home collection of garbage. Right from the beginning there was a stress on segregation of garbage at household level. Every home was required to acquire two garbage bins, one black and one green. The green was for wet carpet which was bio-degradable. The black was for non-biodegradable garbage like plastics, wood, etc, things which could be recycled. One could buy the CCP bins from its offices at a reasonable price and the bins were excellent, with a twist of the cover it could be locked for the night so that no prowling creatures could access what was inside.
SEVERAL IMPROVEMENTS
UNDER Sanjit, as commissioner, there were several other improvements in the infrastructure of Panaji city. Sanjit went on to become chief executive officer of the Entertainment Society of Goa when IFFI moved to Goa in 2004, again courtesy Manohar Parrikar. Unfortunately, the very efficient and competent Sanjit Rodrigues became an utter failure as the CEO of the Smart City project.
It was over a decade ago that the Goa State Urban Development Agency at the behest of the Centre initiated the Smart City projects. Several small and medium towns in the country were selected for intensive development. The focus was on creating world-class infrastructure. This included good roads, effective drainage, modern transport, the creation of parking spaces, the best lighting, etcetera.
Belatedly, Sanjit Rodrigues was brought back as managing director and CEO to put back things in order after the Smart City projects had collapsed. The contractors doing the works were totally incompetent and corrupt and knew nothing about the terrain or drainage systems of Panaji. Their quality of work was substandard. The time schedules were not adhered to.
The consequence was the whole of Panaji city was dug up and then dug up again, never endingly. The roads are still in terrible shape and are being re-worked again. The drainage works are in state of disaster waiting for impending tragedies. Even the new bus stops have been panned as being public unfriendly and offering no protection from the elements, plus the shiny stainless steel reflection glares are a distraction for traffic. The new bus stops are only good for advertising hoardings and collecting revenue.
Then came the introduction of broad electric buses. Some citizens find them alright although the fares are higher, some say these buses cannot be crowded up and are uncomfortable with more standing room than sitting room. The buses are bulky and cumbersome moving down shoddy roadways.
DISMAL FAILURE
IN a recent interaction with the “Times of India” Sanjit has admitted that the Smart City projects have been a dismal failure. The most dramatic indictment of Smart City can be seen up and down commercial heart or shopping road – busy 18 June road. The digging up and kerbsides are so hazardous and pedestrians have to work their way around these broken sideways (take a look at the roadside where the Sahakari Bhandar/Zantyes/Fidalgo hotel enclave is located, it’s been like this for every so long, a shocking story). And the drainage is so bad that small rain falls will send water draining into the shops here. Ditto story at Patto and St Inez which are still under completion. The Caculo Mall-Fire Brigade stretch is still in a sorry state and waiting to be cleaned up.
PANAJI has 52km of major roads with a sewage network of 30 km. Along the new 30km pipeline 956 new manholes have been constructed. The Tadmad section remains incomplete with six manholes reaching depths of 14 meters and yet to be constructed. The manholes are crucial for pipeline to be laid below the St Inez nallah (one time free flowing St Inez Creek but now blocked up at various places). The construction of the sewage pipeline has yet to be completed. The whole drainage network has been stalled because 150 meters of work is still pending.
There are many parts of the Smart City projects which are yet to begin. For instance, the roads connecting the old Patto bridge for the Four Pillars junction have not yet been taken out. There was a proposal for a walkway and cycling track along the Mandovi river bank. The stretch from the Marriott Hotel to Miramar beach is yet to be started. Sanjit now reveals that the project has now been dropped as the area’s survey numbers extend to 10-15 meters into the river belonging to Marriott. Now the pathway is proposed to be constructed from Miramar beach.
LACK OF CO-0PERATION
SANJIT admits that the Smart City projects are failures. He admits that deadlines have not been met. His excuse is lack of cooperation from the CCP. Sanjit has been at war with Panaji MLA Babush Monserrate who controls the CCP. The implementation of Smart City projects involves the cooperation of several bodies including the CCP, the Goa State Pollution Control Board, the PWD, and other agencies.
The problem with the Smart City people is that they are trying to bully other agencies. There are no team players. Not surprisingly there is no co-operation alla round. Worst of all the people of Panaji have not been taken into confidence. Sanjit Rodrigues must realize that without the cooperation of the residents of Panaji the Smart City projects cannot work.
Sanjit claims that 90% of the jobs of the Smart City have been completed. The deadline has been extended to 2025 now from the original 2024. From the looks and sound of it even the new deadline may not be respected.
The ground reality is that the Smart City projects have been an utter failure. Panaji city according to the Goa Bench of the Bombay High Court looks like a war zone. Even the court has not been able to reform the Smart City projects. So Sanjit Rodrigues is now more obsessed with glamour quotients like e-buses than decent roads, good drainage and adequate parking facilities for the residents of Panaji.
UNFORTUNATELY, the burden on Panaji city is reaching breaking point. There has been unplanned, unregulated construction work going all over Panaji city. Even the heritage areas have not been spared. In addition, the permission given to the half-a-dozen casinos in the Mandovi River have added to the burden of congestion and overload on traffic on the pitiful existing infrastructure.
We don’t understand why all the major festivals have to be held in Panaji city starting from the Lok Utsav to IFFI to now Serendipity. Panaji is stretched and stretched beyond common sense and imagination for everything glamorous happens only here. Every time a mega event in on in Panaji it is a more painful experience to Ponjekars. Perhaps an excellent solution would be for the capital of Goa to move back to Old Goa where there is space to breathe.