Infrastructure plans stalled as Exposition date nears
TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: Here’s the engaging story of the Old Goa conservation master plan, which was the first to be conceived, at a time when the term “master plan” was just gaining currency.
Following the precedent, the draft holistic plan for Panjim, the tourism master plan, and master plans for other towns such as Mapusa, Margao were lined up. Presently, all except the ‘pioneering’ Old Goa Master Plan are being actively discussed and assurances given, but the Old Goa plan has receded into the back pages of priorities.
Governments have changed. But nothing has changed on the Old Goa conservation master plan.
All the while, the Old Goa master plan has remained unheard and unsung even as the date for the decadal exposition of the sacred relics of St Francis Xavier scheduled for December 2014, inches closer. The infrastructure facilities and other plans for the grand religious event at Old Goa shows no signs of getting off the ground.
As per guidelines set by UNESCO, a master plan is part of the requirement of a proper management of the world heritage site to bring into sharper focus the integrity of the heritage site. In reality, there are unaesthetic shacks, stalls, handcarts and restaurants that line the streets, which characterise the growth of every Goan town. The lack of adequate and clean toilets around the area’s two main attractions, the Basilica of Bom Jesus and the Se Cathedral are quite alarming, given that feasts and expositions are going on here for decades.
In an effort to redeem the situation, the previous government had constituted a committee to draw up an Old Goa master plan. The plan was meant to help safeguard the UNESCO recognition tag, which the state was in danger of losing.
The plan was the topic of discussions when it was announced. It was meant to give the area a demarcated buffer zone, with separate areas demarcated for construction activity among other things. Traffic circulation especially during the period of the feast and exposition of the sacred relics of St Francis Xavier, was to be put in place. This was 2008.
Again in 2009, in the wake of consistent protests from the clergy and civil society, and an order passed by the collector to remove all kiosks in its jurisdiction, the Old Goa panchayat had promised to streamline all vending activities. As many as 50 of them were demolished in 2009. However, the situation has regressed since. While many of the kiosks there are legal, the rest are illegal, unplanned and a shock to history lovers.
The Village Panchayat of Se Old Goa has not shown the will to stem the mega-construction activities of a local politician, among others, in the vicinity which put more strain on the infrastructure and also gobble up the land in the neighbourhood that could have been used for public utility services in the near future.
The Save Old Goa Action Committee has for long been protesting the utter neglect and decay of the historic city of Old Goa and demanded that the plan be put in place before it is too late.
“Old Goa is getting more and more congested. It is very much in order that we have a planned infrastructure. Parking is becoming an increasing problem and during the feast there is absolutely no place to park. Places that were earlier being used for parking are being mindlessly taken over by builders to construct huge projects,” John Carvalho of the Save Old Goa Action Committee said.
When Herald last asked Tourism Minister Dilip Parulekar, on the sidelines of World Heritage Day on April 18, he said that the matter was being dealt with directly by the chief minister and that he wasn’t aware of government’s moves, if any, on this front.
Conservation moves?
Chief Town Planner S T Putturaju said that there was indeed moves to conserve the Old Goa conservation area. Referring to a meeting organized by the Archaeological Survey of India for preparation of heritage bye-laws for the heritage site at Old Goa, which was attended by officials of the Town and Country Planning Department, Putturaju said that there were indeed moves on the conservation front at Old Goa.
Tourism director Nikhil Desai is yet to respond to an email soliciting his comments on the issue.
