A view of the Imagine Panaji Smart City Development Limited (IPSCDL) office in Panaji.
PANAJI
Nearly a year has passed since Panaji’s smart city projects were declared complete and commissioned. Streets were redesigned, utilities upgraded, and digital systems installed.
The promise was modern infrastructure, managed seamlessly by a new entity to be set up by pooling resources from multiple government departments and possibly entrusting its jurisdiction to the capital city’s civic body -- the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP).
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant had told the Goa Legislative Assembly during last year’s monsoon session that the State government had plans to create a body involving multiple agencies and that the CCP was to be a key player.
Other departments too were expected to be brought in and, together, they were to take charge of operations and maintenance. But the plan has stalled, and Imagine Panaji Smart City Development Limited (IPSCDL), which executed the projects on a turnkey basis, continues to be saddled with the task.
IPSCDL is a special purpose vehicle, a State-owned corporate body, that delivered the works. Once commissioned, IPSCDL was expected to hand over the assets, and the government was to ensure continuity. That handover has not happened.
The absence of a formal arrangement has left the infrastructure in limbo. Roads, utilities, and public spaces need upkeep. Digital systems require monitoring. Without a clear authority, the responsibility is blurred, and citizens are left wondering who is accountable.
Officials, including Sawant, had spoken of a structured mechanism, and the idea was to avoid duplication and confusion, with a dedicated authority to streamline maintenance. It would also ensure that investments made under the smart city mission were protected. Yet, the silence today is deafening.
Interestingly, the CCP, in whose jurisdiction the projects exist, has not yet received ownership. Other departments too remain outside the loop, and IPSCDL continues to exist, but its role was never meant to be permanent.
Public money has been spent. Infrastructure has been created. But without proper management, the gains risk being lost, and already, there are signs of neglect visible: smart systems remain unused, and the calibration of the new sewerage line with the old is still incomplete.
A few months ago, Sawant and Revenue Minister Atanasio Babush Monserrate had gone on a ribbon-cutting spree and, in their speeches, promised a “smart” Panaji. That promise, however, is fading, and citizens now see the reality of unfinished governance.
Until a formal authority is created, Panaji’s Smart City projects remain orphaned. Forgotten in files. Waiting for someone to take charge.
