Smart City Mission pulls April Fool prank on Panaji residents

Panaji: Promises of smooth and dust-free roads on April 1 proved to be an April Fool’s joke on the capital city. Imagine Panaji Smart City Development Ltd (IPSCDL) missed the deadline it had assured the high court of Bombay at Goa that it would abide by.

Several roads in the city remain dug up after being tarred, particularly the main M G Road. Meanwhile, work to lay the final section of the sewerage network at Taad Maad, St Inez remains, well, work in progress.
In St Inez, out of a total 3,000m of roadwork, 2,800m were completed, and just a 200m stretch was left for completion by March-end as per the affidavit filed in the high court. In Rua de Ourem, 13,800m of roadwork were supposed to be completed by March-end.
TOI made multiple attempts to contact IPSCDL chief executive officer Sanjit Rodrigues for an update on Smart City works, but he remained unavailable through the day.
Panaji residents have been waiting for close to seven years for the IPSCDL to complete the works taken up in the capital as part of the Centre’s Smart Cities Mission and AMRUT mission.
As of March 31, stretches along Rua de Ourem, Dr Pandurang Pissurlekar Road and 18th June Road remain far from complete, with some trenches casually covered with mud and loose gravel. A case in point is the junction near the Don Bosco school.
A source at the IPSCDL said that while the construction work continues, most of the road closures have been removed, and
traffic can flow easily. The IPSCDL intends to asphalt the roads in May.
“These dates have been proposed to allow the settlement of the dense bitumen macadam (DBM) layer that was laid in March, and necessary rectifications, if any, will be carried out without requiring road closure,” Rodrigues had said in Feb.
The IPSCDL also intends to undertake landscaping and tree plantation in June for higher success of plant survival. Meanwhile, the stretches at the Cafe Bhonsle square, the General Bernardo Guedes Road to Geeta Bakery and the Atmaram Borkar Road remain dilapidated and strewn with debris.
The Union ministry of housing and urban affairs asked states to ensure that all smart city mission works are completed by March end. In a Townhall with TOI, Rodrigues said that unseasonal rains, frequent delays in permissions from govt departments, and a high groundwater table complicated by tidal movements create a challenge for the sewerage project.


Get the latest lifestyle updates on Times of India, along with EID Wishes, Messages and quotes !