ALIYA ABREU
PANAJI
For three years, a lot has been spoken of the much-hyped “Smart City Panaji”. While a couple of projects have been undertaken under the AMRUT mission, Panjimites are still uncertain what it entails and which works are being executed by which agency and what exactly is the concrete development that has taken place under the Smart City Mission.
Now, with the Panjim bypoll just a week away, the Smart City project has already come into focus in the campaigning with the ruling BJP, whose candidate Siddharth Kuncalienkar headed Imagine Panaji Smart City Corporation until he quit recently, projecting it as the answer to Panaji’s development woes and the Opposition terming it a scam. The Congress, in particular, has been targeting Siddharth with the lack of transparency in the projects and allegation of corruption.
As for the electorate, how much of an influence will this grandiose project be, as to which way the electoral scales tilt?
The Goan caught up with with some residents in areas where Smart City related works have either begun or are in the pipeline.
In Ribandar and some parts of Panjim, underground power cabling work was started recently under the aegis of Imagine Panaji Smart City Development Limited (IPSCDL).
Babin Kamat, a resident of Ribandar was “very unhappy” with the project especially the road work where workers were digging in such a way that it was prone to accidents. He said, the digging was leading to an enormous parking problem for residents.
“There are traffic jams in the morning and evening. With the new highway, the traffic jams had eased, but due to the digging, we feel like we’ve gone back to the past,” said Kamat. Also, a lot of dust was entering the houses in the area.
“We’ll definitely raise the issue with candidates who come to campaign. We can’t raise it with the Congress candidate because the Congress hasn’t ruled here, but we will be raising it with the BJP candidate because either he or his godfather has ruled here for 25 years,” Kamat said.
A lady resident of Ribandar who did not want to be named lamented over the dust pollution faced by locals in the area.
“We hope the roads are tarred before the rains. We will have to raise the issue with candidates who come to campaign, there is no question about it,” she said.
Elvis D’Souza of Alto-Fondvem said: “The money spent on Smart City projects seems highly inflated compared to the quality of work done by sub-contractors. All roads including the one in front of my house have been dug for the past 10 days. My vehicle was stuck inside for four days. If they’ve spent crores of rupees, why can’t they work smartly and not inconvenience people?”
D’Souza also complained about water supply being disrupted due to Smart City works. “They damaged all the water lines leaving Ribandar without supply for five days. They could have arranged for water tankers, but nothing had been done. Finally, CCP arranged water for us. I really don’t know if they’ll be able to complete the work before the rains”, he added.
Disability rights activist Avelino De Sa claimed that the Smart City mission has not done much on making the city accessible to persons with disabilities (PwDs). “(I am) not happy with what has happened on the accessible front. The Smart City officials haven’t shown us the blueprints of any plans as far as making the city accessible. (I) will not be raising the issue with any of the candidates as it’s just one seat. What will they do?” De Sa, questioned.
The activist also claimed that there is confusion on whether the development work at Miramar beach is being carried out by IPSCDL or Accessible India (a mission undertaken by Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment under its Department of Disability Affairs). Amita Keni, a psychologist said: To make a city smart, you need to have smart people. Right now there are a lot of disputes going on... these need to be resolved for people to start progressing. There are so many issues in the city that need to be resolved on priority basis.”
The Smart Cities Mission was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with much fanfare in 2015. However, the much-hyped program does not find mention in the BJP’s Panaji bypoll manifesto.
