The city of Panaji is on the verge of being known as so called Smart City and Margao is closing on with high aspirations for smart City status but has got lot to do to achieve it .Civic apathy and desired maintenance of infrastructure with respect to shoddy works carried out on various projects is below par to say the least. A thorough revamp of the entire system needs to be carried out, right from the executive level to the lower cadres. A walk through the SPDA market and the inner sections of Margao city, one will notice the upkeep of this fairly newly commissioned facility the SPDA complex has been poor. The entire walls of most of the buildings all over the state are painted and laced with betel leaves and areca nuts with lime & tobacco sputum brown coloured stains . An anti spitting drive will entail need to install spittoons every nook and corner with signages, so that public be aware to spit into these containers.
Most of the gutters are clogged with plastics, debris of all kinds of filth, decaying organic refuse , numerous animal dead body carcasses ,and sewage effluents being released into the open with no proper pretreatments done. Open electric cabinets and junction boxes with running live wires could prove fatal for the unsuspecting . Old rusting frames of advertising materials hanging precariously from some buildings , could prove fatal for some innocent passerby with imminent crashes .
Dust pollution is rampant around these SPDA complexes as there are large tracks of muddy ground not tarred with asphalt, which throw huge quantities of dust into the air when vehicles move over . Roads around the markets are dilapidated with constant digging for various works like sewage, underground cabling which are hazardous and need to be looked into . Broken chamber or gutter covers, need to be replaced. Disappearing tiles on pavements which are either stolen or broken, at numerous sites require replacement. The same is also true with other places in the main city which cry for similar attention and upkeep, have been neglected for quite a long time. The city bus stops are in pathetic condition, a total revamp which necessitates new refurbishments and require extra covers. The civic maladies of various towns and cities are disgusting to say the least, and on a closer look a thorough rearguard follow up action of all concerned is the need of the hour.
