Panaji's Smart City development, meant to transform the capital, has instead left residents, commuters, and businesses grappling with persistent chaos. With roads dug up, closed, and congested, the city now resembles a construction zone. The ongoing projects are creating widespread disruption, straining traffic management, and significantly affecting local businesses and daily life. 'The Goan' takes a closer look at the challenges faced by locals and commuters as they navigate the turmoil caused by the city’s ambitious transformation
The ongoing Smart City sewerage work in a manhole in Tonca.
Photo Credits: Narayan Pissurlenkar
PANAJI
With some roads closed, others dotted with large holes, several being dug up, and some being jammed with traffic and dust and chaos… the Smart to be Smart City Panaji resembles a war zone.
Yes! This is not something new to the eyes but the residents, commuters, visitors; businesses are facing the brunt of haphazard digging, infrastructure damage and inconvenience for the last three to four years.
Bracing against the March 31 deadline, the Imagine Panaji Smart City Development Ltd (IPSCDL) is on a rampage as the capital city roads are perpetually wounded. Almost 13 major projects including the sewerage connectivity work, worth Rs 460 crore are ongoing.
Just when people thought that the nightmare of 2024 digging was over, in the very festive and tourism season, the Smart City contractors launched an assault on the streets with added vengeance in 2025.
THREE MAJOR ROADS SHUT
The three major roads heading towards the Panaji municipal market -- Geeta Bakery to the Panaji Police Station, Caculo Circle to the St Inez junction and Caculo Circle to the Don Bosco School circle -- have been shut as the entire road stretch has been dug up. The sudden closure has led to inconvenience to the Don Bosco School school students and parents, who are now forced to use the exit point towards the market side, leading to further chaos in the market area. Also, it has blocked the entry to the petrol pump - thus making commuters more furious.
Further, the road behind the Old Adil Shah palace and the Excise Department office has been closed due to digging, thus diverting all the traffic to Church Square - a tourist hot spot - leading to major congestion. Also, the work is going on along the Tambdi Mati road, with two-way vehicular movement restricted to a single lane. The road near the St Inez Junction towards Altinho too was dug but now is covered up without proper tarring or concretisation, forcing people to avoid the lane.
UNANNOUNCED DISRUPTIONS
Seriously, commuters are having a horrifying experience with incessant digging on nearly every street. The streets are either closed without notice, some streets which were one-way have become two-way and others are closed without forewarning, leading to absolute chaos and confusion. Shutting these road stretches without prior intimation is what made commuters more furious. Also, there are no warning signboards displayed for public safety and convenience or any information provided about any diversions.
Despite being selected as Smart City in 2018, Panaji continues to struggle with frequent road digging, causing traffic congestion, infrastructure damage, and inconvenience to residents and commuters. The lack of long-term planning and coordination among government agencies exacerbates the issue, leading to repeated disruptions. Eight years after Panaji was selected to be developed as ‘Smart City’, only 36 projects, at the cost of Rs 585.55 crore have been completed till December last year.
RESIDENTS FRUSTRATED
Residents have expressed frustration, calling the repetitive excavation wasteful and disruptive. “These are the roads which were excavated just before the last monsoon. Again they are dug. When you ask them, they say earlier it was for X purpose and now it is for Y purpose. Is this what Smart City planning looks like?” questions Rajan Sardesai, a resident from Tonca.
“Nearly every city road has been dug, throwing the traffic in a tizzy. You go through one lane in the morning and while coming back in the afternoon, you see that the road is closed. Since most of the roads in the city are one-way, you find yourself in a fix or in a Bhool Bhulaiyaa,” Netra Usgaoncar, a resident from Tambdi Mati reacted.
TOURISTS IN TIZZY
The situation has driven tourists crazy, especially those using Google Maps to navigate through the areas. They are forced to take no-entry routes, which often lead to conflicts between them and locals over traffic violations or minor accidents. Some Panjimites complained that the situation is so fluid and scary that even if you take one road and try to return after two hours, that road is closed, since it has been dug.
The widespread mess that the haphazard Smart City works have created is currently being looked into by the Bombay High Court at Goa, which is hearing a public interest litigation filed by the residents with regard to dust pollution. In an unprecedented step, the judges of the high court themselves visited the city to inspect the progress of the works, last year.
