Panaji: Of the total 35 projects sanctioned under Imagine Panaji Smart City project, 20 of them are completed, while 15 are pending, a senior official said, amidst criticism over the pace of the completion of the projects.
Imagine Panaji Smart city Development Limited (IPSCDL) Chief Executive Officer Sanjith Rodrigues told a press conference that 75 per cent of the works on the Smart City project in Panaji has started in the recent months.
The project was conceived in the year 2015 and work orders were issued in the year 2022, the 75 per cent of the work has happened in last few months, he said.
The Smart city works are facing criticism after several roads in the capital city were dug up to lay pipelines causing inconvenience to the public. The local citizens are complaining about the uncontrolled dust that is created during the completion of this project.
Rodrigues said that the inconvenience faced by the people is due to the pace of the work. “The pace of the work has increased tremendously (off late) due to which there are issues like dust or dug up roads,” he said.
Rodrigues said thet several issues like heavy rains and organisation of festivals in the city like Purple Fest, Shigmo, Carnival create hurdle in the completion of works. “We want festivals to happen and also the work to be completed faster,” he said.
Listing out 20 works which are completed, the CEO said that the facilities built under Smart city mission are well-utilised to host the festivals.
He said that some of the amenities like pumping station at Mala area in Panaji city has saved the locals from the floods this monsoon, despite heavy rains witnessed for the last season.
“ When Mala used to get flooded, there were media saidreports and videos but this year, it did not flood there but I did not see any media report,” he said.
Rodrigues said that the Smart city projects are in their “last miles” and all of them would be completed within the timeline.
