To avoid the perennial water-logging issue in Panaji, the Imagine Panaji Smart City Development Limited (IPSCDL) has started to desilt two Portuguese-era stormwater drains. One drain is along the Governador Pestana Road and runs between the market and Old Education Department building, and is 360 m long, about 90 cm wide and 1.2 m deep. The other drain is along the Cunha Riveira Road from the Church Square to Custom House, and is 200 m long and 90 cm wide. Ironically, a new drain was wrongly constructed above this old drain! The old drains are being cleaned of decades of accumulated silt as this has reduced the carrying capacity of rain water from Altinho hill and other areas into the Mandovi River. Prior to starting the Smart City project, the IPSCDL could have identified and located the old stormwater drains by gleaning information from old records and from old timers. The drains could have been cleaned of the muck and reinforced wherever necessary instead of building new drains. This process would have helped to save not only immense time and crores of rupees but also the people from facing hardships since the last few years. Perhaps this method could be used when Margao, Vasco or other cities are being turned into smart cities, if at all.
