PANAJI
Hardpressed to resolve ahead of a looming monsoon the quagmire Panaji has sunk into following months of uncoordinated execution of multiple smart city projects by different agencies, the State government appointed its Secretary Sanjith Rodrigues, IAS, the CEO of the Imagine Panaji Smart City Development Limited (IPSCDL) and simultaneously instructed all contractors to work in three shifts to finish the work before June 15.
The decisions were taken at a review meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Thursday with IPSCDL officials, heads of departments involved and the contractors.
Revenue Minister Atanasio (Babush) Monserrate, his CCP mayor-son Rohit Monserrate, CCP Commissioner Clen Madeira, who are all on the IPSCDL Board also attended the meeting.
Sawant told the media that a June 15 deadline has been set to complete all the works, even as he admitted that execution of the smart city related work which had begun in mid-December last year and through life for residents and commuters in the capital in disarray, "did not go as were planned".
"Contractors will work 24x7 now. Work will be done in three shifts daily, to complete the works,” Sawant said, adding that with Rodrigues who has vast experience working in Panaji as managing director and CEO of IPSCDL, he will be the single point of contact for all smart city work.
“He (Rodrigues) has worked with CCP, Amrut mission and other projects. He is well versed with works in Panaji," he added
Nearly a dozen different agencies, including IPSCDL, Sewerage and Infrastructural Development Corporation of Goa Limited (SIDCGL), Goa State Urban Development Agency (GSUDA), Public Works Department and Water Resources Department among others had been simultaneously working at different sites in the capital over the last six months and more.
Despite Thursday's decisions and the administration cracking the whip at the contractors to improve the pace of work, fear that the chaos in the city will not be undone before the onset of the monsoon, persist.
The Indian Meteorological Department has forecast that the Southwest monsoons are likely to hit Kerala on June 4 and it usually takes about a week more to hit Goa. Thus the June 15 deadline set to bring order in the capital many feel may be too little too late with Panaji perennially susceptible to flooding during the rains.
Sawant, meanwhile, said the rains are expected by June 8 but before that all the major work and connections will be put in place.
"Roads will be hot-mixed in Panaji by June 8-10,' Sawant said, even as he expressed concern that roads could sink since major sewerage pipelines.
He also claimed that precautions have been taken to ensure that flooding does not occur in the city.
"Mala area has been taken care of with a new high capacity pumping station and a gate has been installed there," he added.
