Panaji: With several locations in the capital city still excavated and work continuing on smart city projects, officials at the Corporation of the City of Panaji are unsure of its impact on the city's and its roads' susceptibility to flooding during the upcoming monsoons which are forecast to arrive early this year.
The CCP has already completed its work to prepare for the onslaught of the monsoon clearing the old Portuguese-era drainage system as well as roadside surface drains of debris and silt. Over the last couple of weeks, its team worked in tandem with other departments like the Water Resources Department (WRD), and Public Works Department (PWD) going about this task.
CCP Mayor Rohit Monserrate Inspects Flood-Prone Locations
CCP Mayor Rohit Monserrate with the technical team also inspected some of the flood-prone locations of the city but he admitted that road-digging and excavation for the 'Smart City' projects has left a lingering doubt over what its impact will be vis-a-vis flooding in the monsoon.
IPSCDL managing director and CEO, Sanjit Rodrigues, IAS, meanwhile claimed that it will all be cleaned out in time.
"The CCP gave us a list of locations, mostly drainage junctions in the city, asking us to clear these underground drainages. We have complied with the request and all these locations have been dealt with," Rodrigues told The Goan.
The CCP mayor had alas listed these spots in a note to Chief Secretary Puneet Kumar Goel and at a joint meeting IPSCDL had agreed to carry out these works.
"We have since taken up these works and will complete them by this weekend," Rodrigues added.
While the old Portuguese drainage system which is laterite has been retained, in some places additional drains with concrete lining have been made to deal with the increased volumes of stormwater, he added.
GPCC Media Cell Chief Takes A Pot-SHot At Revenue Minister
Meanwhile, Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) media cell chief, Amarnath Panjikar took a pot-shot at Revenue Minister Atanasio (Babush) Monserrate, and asked whether Panaji would look smart on June 1.
"Panaji MLA @babushofficial had assured that he will see that by 31st May Panjim city is cleared of all this mess. After walking through Panjim city it appears that review meeting headed by CM @DrPramodSawant has smartly failed to deliver," Panjikar wrote on his 'X' (formerly Twitter) handle alongside a facsimile of a newspaper report of the review meeting of Smart City work wherein Monserrate is quoted giving the assurance of clearing the 'mess' by May 31.
