Garden of Eden - Final

Of monolithic malls

Last week you read how Rs 1,59,68,204 of your tax money is at this moment being wasted on a project mysteriously called 'renovation of the garden at Rua De Ourem' in Panjim. There is no garden really, but that's old hat now. You also read how a duct is being built at a cost of Rs 77 lakh whose only purpose is to accommodate the telecommunication cables of various agencies. That was the first part conceived for the project. The second part described here, costing all of Rs 82 lakh, was conceived to create an additional pathway for pedestrians by extending the footpath/garden by 90 cms into the creek. This will be achieved by constructing reinforced concrete cement beams and slabs. And what do you know, there still won't be a garden, which is what I have been saying in the past two columns.

Led down the garden path

After all how much money can you make on plants etc? It is the concrete aspect that solidifies this and makes the big bucks move, if you get my drift. The funny thing as I said before, nobody uses this side of the road because it is sun drenched. Those who do walk in this rather isolated area, use the opposite footpath shaded by a long line of buildings etc. This is the side too where people park their cars because it has buildings and shops etc. Therefore, I don't see anybody using the car park planned on the other side. Why? Because, the narrow road, approximately 8-9 m wide simply won't accommodate cars parked either side. On the other hand, since drivers don't care any longer where they park, this could create one hell of a parking problem. I asked GSIDC, the perpetrators of this imbecilic idea if they had ever thought about shifting this equally misplaced parking lot to an appropriate place, they answered they had never thought of it. You won't, you simply can't when you don't appoint an architect to design a plan, but do things on your own.

Benchmark

Call it that, because KG Thomas, the contractor who apparently contrived to get this lucrative job, quoted Rs 2,60,000 to supply 13 concrete benches that will be placed on the footpath being built. So, now you will have vagabonds resting on these benches at night creating a nuisance for people waiting for the last bus to Margao. Or, the Corporation of the City of Panjim (what a glorified name for an organization that sleeps 24x7) might just be convinced to shift the radhiwallahs from the sacrosanct Azad Maidan and also persuade the cricket team of migrant workers to shift their club grounds from there to this new venue. There, could of course be worse uses for this. And meanwhile, amidst the costly extravaganza, the creek will continue to stink and be a breeding ground for mosquitoes becausing nobody thought of cleaning it.
Parsvanath, the builder of monolithic shopping malls across India announced it will build a 5-star hotel in what is left of Patto Plaza despite what EDC's MD assured me a long time ago that no hotel would be allowed to come up at Patto. This was repeated to other journalists and in other forums too. Now, Parsvanath claims it has sanction to build a hotel on 3,150.20 square meters. Here's a shocker, the Panjim PDA says it has approved plans for a mall with a food court only. Parsvanath which has already gone to great expense to fence out (and 'typically' stationed security guards inside) its huge Patto Plaza property also cleverly erected an equally huge hoarding depicting (but without actually saying it) that a huge shopping mall will be built.
Typically, because builders follow a format: First, they erect a huge fence around the land to keep away prying eyes and not to prevent dust or debris spilling out as is popularly thought. Because, when construction actually begins, they care less about that as you can see happens in Panjim even at this moment. Then, at the last moment they erect the statutory board that gives details of the construction. In this case Parsvanath has not yet put up its board. But, it will soon, after this.
So, is Panjim heading for a complete collapse of its traffic system? Consider this. Soon the starred hotel at the St Inez traffic light junction will be ready. Then there's this huge Milroc Neurekar building complex (with an impressive high-rise and impressive fence) being built near the Police Headquarters; several more about to be readied and occupied. You bet the traffic congestion will get worse.

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