Questions Raised Over Panaji Smart City Sewage Works After Midnight Cleanup Operations

Residents allege severe overnight noise as fresh concerns emerge over the quality and durability of recently completed infrastructure Questions are being raised in Panaji after residents reported nearly a week of late-night sewage cleaning work involving heavy machinery mounted on a government-marked service truck. The operation, which reportedly begins after midnight and continues until around 6 a.m., has triggered concerns over noise disturbance, public inconvenience, and the condition of sewage infrastructure linked to the Smart City project. Residents in parts of Panaji say heavy machinery has been operating through the night for the past several days, producing what they describe as unbearable noise during post-midnight hours. According to workers at the site, the underground sewage line is choked and requires urgent cleaning. They reportedly said the work may continue for another three to four days. When asked why the operation is being carried out at night, workers cited traffic congestion during daytime hours as the reason. However, the development has also sparked broader questions about the state of Panaji’s sewage infrastructure, especially in the context of the Smart City project, which authorities had claimed was completed in March 2025. Residents and observers are now asking whether such extensive intervention in a relatively new sewage network points to technical failure, poor maintenance, or possible deficiencies in execution. Concerns are also being raised over accountability, particularly after the expenditure of thousands of crores of rupees on urban infrastructure. These questions are not entirely new. Panaji MLA Babush Monserrate has, on multiple occasions, publicly criticised Smart City works. In earlier remarks, he had described the Panaji Smart City Mission as a “massive multi-crore scam.” In 2019, after becoming MLA, he sought a review of Smart City projects and called for an inquiry into the role of Imagine Panaji Smart City Development Limited, or IPSCDL, while also alleging that he was not being kept informed about developments under the mission. In May 2023, Monserrate again alleged that Smart City works were of substandard quality. The current sewage-cleaning operation is now likely to intensify scrutiny over whether newly constructed underground infrastructure has developed serious issues within just a few years of completion. At this stage, there has been no official public clarification from the concerned authorities on whether the present blockage is part of routine maintenance or an indication of a larger structural problem.