This story is from July 28, 2019

Panaji’s drainage network needs a reset: Atanasio Monserrate

Given that the state capital’s drainage system is crumbling, Panaji MLA Atanasio Monserrate on Saturday said he has asked the public works department (PWD) to map existing storm water drains and prepare a plan for new and larger storm water drains.
Panaji’s drainage network needs a reset: Atanasio Monserrate
Panaji MLA Atanasio Monserrate
PANAJI: Given that the state capital’s drainage system is crumbling, Panaji MLA Atanasio Monserrate on Saturday said he has asked the public works department (PWD) to map existing storm water drains and prepare a plan for new and larger storm water drains.
Monserrate, who recently joined the BJP, said flooding and water-logging were occurring in Panaji because the existing Portuguese-era storm water drains have not been desilted and because utility and telecom cables have been installed in the drainage network.

“I have told the PWD to make a plan for storm water drains and new drains, like the ones that were there during the time of the Portuguese,” Monserrate said.
The first time Panaji MLA said that new drains need to be built to cater to the needs of the city for the next 15 years.
“The existing drainage system is very old. Some of the storm water drains are blocked with silt because no proper cleaning has been done. In some places, cables have been improperly laid or pushed into the drains which reduces the flow of water in the drains,” the MLA said.
Years of neglect has resulted in the St Inez and Rua de Ourem creek getting choked with silt and garbage. The Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP), which incidentally is under Monserrate’s control, has failed to maintain the storm water drainage system along with the secondary and tertiary drain network, which has resulted in Panaji getting inundated during the last couple of
monsoon seasons.
Agencies like the CCP, PWD, water resources department, Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation, sewerage department, Imagine Panaji Smart City Development Limited (IPSCDL) and private agencies rarely coordinate. This lack of coordination has resulted in chaos along the city’s roads and drainage network.
“We need to reset the entire drainage system so that next year there is no flooding. I have given them a time-frame and hopefully the works will begin in November or December,” Monserrate said.
The MLA also criticised IPSCDL for focusing on city surveillance and beautification projects under the Smart City mission, while ignoring basic needs of the city.
“For what are we spending Rs 180 crore on cameras? To become peeping Toms? All this does not matter when the city is flooding,” Monserrate said.
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