PANJIM NEEDS SMARTACTION, NOT PROMISES Elvidio Miranda Babush's claim that his panel will win easily is a point that he has to prove and which lacks conviction of sustained action. This time round in the CCP elections, his choices as councillors are going to have to wade through knee deep opposition. His switching over to the BJP has not gone well with the electorate who voted for him in the assembly elections as his having become a turncoat is what has estranged him from those very capital city residents who now know that he is an opportunist politician devoid of independence. His claims of having done the work of the capital city is not a fact, but mere promises unfulfilled. He had promised the shifting of casinos within 100 days of his assuming office, but alas, the casinos have got a new lease of life and many of the residents near the casinos have been experiencing a torrid time due to the nuisance of the casino clientele and that too during the wee hours of the night. Four-wheelers and two-wheeler owners are the worst affected due to potholes not having been filled up and leveling of roads not done. The company that laid cables around the city, precisely cut the roads, laid the cables and then used a mixture of concrete and a binding agent that has by and large survived the test of time. Their example should have been emulated. Another important aspect is the flooding in the city during the monsoons. It is agreed that Panjim in the last two years received 170 inches of rainfall, but if all the city drains had to be cleaned as well as widened and made deeper, draining of water instead of accumulation would have sufficed at least during the low tide. What about the St. Inez creek. This important inland city waterway has never been attempted to be given serious attention. The St. Inez creek has become an open sewer with a dirty stench emanating from throughout its length and breadth. The only way that the St. Inez creek can be saved is by giving all those houses that discharge sewage directly into to it connection to the main sewage line, Achievable but neglected. Similar is the case with the Ourem creek and the Mala lake. Another major task is the setting up of a garbage treatment plant. Opposition has been building up from the residents of Old Goa against construction of the garbage treatment plant at Bainguinim. Bainguinim being too close to the World Heritage site, which consists of the Basilica de Bom Jesus, the Se Cathedral, the Santa Monica convent and the St. Cajetan church among others, the waste treatment plant should not come up there as it will carry the foul odour emanating from the plant and thus would defile the sanctity of the Old Holy city. Find an alternate site in Tiswadi. Five long years have passed, but the CCP and the government without any opposition have not addressed these important issues in the Panjim Smart city. Let another set of CCP councillors take up these tasks, if the Babush panel cannot manage.
