PANAJI
Goa's capital Panaji is gaining a notorious reputation of being a city of caving roads, most of which have been excavated to facilitate 'Smart City' work much to chagrin of residents and motorists.
On Thursday morning, yet another night-soil tanker went down with the road caving in the stretch in front of the St Agnes Church and by evening, the mini-water tanker, ironically belonging to the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) itself went down, at a stone's throw away distance from the civic body's headquarters.
Many stretches of the city's roads are dug up to carry out the sewerage enhancement works as part of the 'Smart City' package. However, the stretch where the CCP's mini-tanker went down, the work is already complete and the excavated roads haphazardly filled up, raising questions over the contractors' regard for safety.
Over the last few weeks, at least three other such incidents have been reported of trucks and heavy vehicles going down with roads caving in areas where 'Smart City' work is being executed.
Residents and businesses have faced severe hardships but earlier last week, Revenue Minister Atanasio (Babush) Monserrate who is also Panaji MLA, urged citizens to have patience.
Monserrate, whose son Rohit is the CCP mayor and the duo hold positions on the BoD of Imagine Panaji Smart City Development Limited (IPSCDL), the special purpose vehicle under whose aegis the smart city work is being executed, had also alleged that it was only a handful of 'certain individuals' and not the city's common residents who were complaining.
