<It has been discovered that the entire cost of the construction of the Kala Academy did not exceed Rs 5 crore; but the cost of renovation and refurbishment of the Academy for the IFFI cost the public exchequer over Rs 24 crore. Similarly, research has revealed that there are about 100 multiplexes all over India - all of them built by private enterprise -, and not one of them cost more than Rs 5 crore, whereas the multiplex constructed by the Goa Government in Panjim for the IFFI cost a whopping Rs 24 crore.>[Joseph Fernandes, Jan 1]
These represent glaring discrepancies and need to be checked and validated by knowledgeable people. <The citizens of Panjim, (and perhaps of Goa ) are well aware that some positive good has come out of the frenzied activities of the Government, viz. better roads, and improvements to heritage buildings, but these were overdue in any case. It did not need a film festival to initiate these improvements. > [Joseph Fernandes, Jan 1 cited above] The four-laning project is said to have got a budget of Rs 50 cr of which Rs 30 cr have reportedly been spent so far. Even so, the result is not at all satisfactory given the unevenness of the surface in places from New Patto Bridge to Miramar Circle. One two-wheeler accident near Kala Academy has already claimed one or two young lives after IFFI ended. Speaking of the frenzied activity in Panjm this is in sharp and glaring contrast to the matter-of-fact (near catatonic!) four line report on IFFI buried deep in the Ministry of I&B's annual report posted recently on goanet! Obviously the Central Govt is not impressed by the Goa govt's over enthusiasm for IFFI. The Goa government may have to think of some excuse other than IFFI to launch into major beautification projects in Panjim in future. In fact it would be well advised to shift such focus to other Goa cities if Panjim is not to get swamped with real estate investors and migrants and strain its already precarious water, health and sewage facilities.
