PANAJI: The
high court
of Bombay at Goa on Tuesday flayed
state govt
over the
Smart City project
after
advocate general
Devidas Pangam told the bench that he had not said that work would be completed by May 31, but that roads would be made operational by then. The court said that it was given the impression by govt that all roads in
Panaji
under the Smart City Mission were completed.
The bench, which asked govt to be transparent and to come up with a proper timeline, said govt can’t be casual before the high court by seeking extensions of deadlines. The court also directed govt to produce contracts for all smart city road stretches, beginning from the Caculo Mall junction to STP stretch, and a bar chart of work completed. “We have to be satisfied that the contractors are not being protected,” the court said, to which Pangam replied stating that govt will “not spare” contractors if they’re at fault.
The high court said that the weather may have played spoilsport, but that it wants to know why contracts have been extended.
The court called for the contracts after the AG told the court that only temporary work was carried out to make the roads operational before the monsoon, and that final tarring would be carried out after the monsoon. The AG told the court that some parties, including housing societies and private parties, are creating objections to the construction of footpaths and the laying of pavers.
Advocate Abhijit Gosavi, representing one group of Panaji citizens, told the court that govt was playing around with words and had never said it was carrying out only temporary works. He added that temporary works that get washed away with a little rain can’t be carried out. “The road condition speaks for itself,” he told the HC.
“Footpath work will begin in Oct, after the rains,” said Pangam.
