PANJIM: The expected happened. The 4.9 inches of rainfall in one day and 15 inches during the last week exposed the utter failure of the Team Panjim.
Stink, muck, excreta all tumbled out in a disgusting expose of various inches, 2, 4, 6, you take your pick, as the rainfall record in terms of inches reached a record high.
Panjim has been insulted and yes it’s truly a case of Panjin Sinks, S**T floats.
Patto Plaza which has many business offices was again proved to be a faulty planning as fifth and other waste flowed on the roads as the rains poured for the last two days.
However, this is not the first instance when something like this happened. Last year, construction debris were indiscriminately dumped allegedly by ‘unknown persons’ along the mangrove wetland between Merces Circle and Heera Petrol Pump highway stretch at Patto, which entered the aquatic environment and proved to be disastrous.
Similarly, the claims of the Corporation of City of Panaji (CCP) and the PWD that the issue of raw sewage flowing at the doorsteps of people at Mala, Panjim ‘has been addressed’, had fallen flat as raw sewage continued to flow, making the lives of local residents miserable.
The blame game frenzy continues and as always the scapegoat is the rain. As Mayor Rohit Monserrate said, “Nothing in particular can be done.”
He added, “Last time we had desilted the Patto area. This time there was too much rain for two days continuously. Only low lying areas flooded. Rest of the Patto did not flood. It will take some time to work out a solution. Sewage chambers are made of bricks so when there will be a highwater table it will happen. It happens all over Panjim. Nothing in particular can be done in particular.”
The drains continued to be seen flooded with raw sewage, it was also seen overflowing through manholes and flowing into the adjacent drains, thereafter reaching at the doorstep of the people, particularly in the Mala areas. This forces the residents of the city to ask when they are going to get a dignified life in the city which claims to become smart.
CCP Councillor Nelson Cabral said, “Master Plan for Panjim is the only solution, nothing else. Until and unless it is not prepared by the government then there is no other solution. This will continue to happen.”
Former Mayor and councillor Vithal Chopdekar said, “On Sunday, rainfall was mostly coupled with high tide. New buildings have come up but there is no proper sewerage connection at Patto. Whenever there is high tide, water enters the low-lying areas. Chambers have been cleaned. When I visited Patto, on Monday afternoon, the roads were submerged but by evening water subsided. But there was stench. I will take up this issue with the local MLA so as to find out a permanent solution.”
Sangeeta Pednekar, branch manager, IndusInd Bank, Patto, said, “There was waterlogging when we came to office on Monday morning and hardly any customer visited the branch due to waterlogging. People, especially two-wheelers, were driving cautiously as they suspected there could be potholes. During monsoon, stench is emanating from the garbage treatment plant.”
Dr Mac Fonseca said, “The Panjim city has been destroyed. It is over now. We cannot talk about Panjim. It is flooded. The post-mortem will have to be conducted by the experts, by the engineers, like the post-mortem of Kala Academy was done. There is no future.”
Mayor Monserrate said the Water Resources Department (WRD) is supposed to get this amount under Natural Disaster Management Authority. "So I want to take up Patto and Miramar areas under the scheme. The river has not been desilted also. So the mouth of the river and the outlet level is almost the same. So water will not leave until there is a lot of tide. So a lot of drains are affected due to the tidal event.”
Panjim MLA and Revenue Minister Atanasio ‘Babush’ Monserrate said, “As far as Smart City works are concerned, if any substandard work has been carried out, now we will come to know. None of our departments are involved. It is the consultants who should be blamed because bills were approved after they okayed works. The onus is now on them to see that the quality work is completed. They should be pulled up because they are simply taking crores of rupees but still we are having the same problem.”
Sources in the Imagine Panaji Smart City Development Limited (IPSCDL) said no work has been taken up in Patto area.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Monday reviewed the rain situation with the both the District Collectors. He said that there were three unnatural deaths at Kundaim, when a wall collapsed. Asked about flooding in Panjim Smart City, he said this was happening at only one or two places in the City. He also informed that Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari will inaugurate the Mopa link road on July 11.