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The revised proposal would be based on observations and suggestions from the Union Ministry of Urban Development
- Sanjit Rodrigues, CCP Commissioner
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PANAJI: With the elections having just concluded and the new mayor in place for the capital city of Goa, the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) is back in action working on a new proposal for the Smart City scheme which it has to submit by 15 April this year.
Panaji had missed the bus by 2.48 percent to the first list of cities selected. The Corportation is now back on its feet again after being asked by the Union Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) to revise and fast track its Smart City proposal. The CCP, according to a time frame devised by them, said the final state level clearance would be achieved by March 31.
Announcing the dates, CCP Commissioner Sanjit Rodrigues said the revised proposal would be based on observations and suggestions from the MoUD. “The Ministry has shared its observations and suggestions on Panaji’s smart city proposal in an effort to encourage the city to upgrade its existing proposal. We will therefore incorporate it in the revised proposal,” he said.
The ministry had in its observation said, “the issues of service related to transport for instance are not well defined.” Elaborating further, Rodrigues said in regards to the transport, the original plan had given the number of buses, but failed to give the make and frequency at which they would be available.
Admitting that there were only minor additions and not major ones, CCP have decided to call for a council meeting and group discussion on the changes on March 21. As per the timeline, March 22 will be spent on gathering public suggestions and consultation which will then be submitted to the council on March 23. The council will then take a resolution on March 30 and sent it to the state level committee for their clearance to be submitted to the centre on 15 April.
Speaking to media persons, newly elected Mayor Surendra Furtado said high on the agenda for the council meetings will be the issue of funds and called for the Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar to help in the approval process.
