THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2024
Team Herad
Panjim: Members of the Goa Heritage Action Group (GHAG) wrote to the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) in New Delhi voicing their concerns about the diversion of forest land within and around the Bhagvan Mahaveer Wildlife Sanctuary and Mollem National park, both prime locations of hinterland and nature-based tourism.
They identified specific alarm over potential damage to the heritage properties in the vicinity of the proposed double track railway line and how the existing single track has already caused cracks in the walls and the floors of these beautiful homes, some of which are more than 200 years old and are an illustration of Goan architecture and culture.
The group highlights in their letter that over the past decade, there has been an observable global trend in nature-based tourism, including India, which shows a 14.9% average growth rate (the number of visitors per year) to India’s protected areas, bulk of which are domestic tourists. It also throws light on the ‘25 year Master Tourism Plan’ drawn by the State Government of Goa appointed KPMG to create a holistic tourism asset plan.
The three infrastructure projects, cutting the Western Ghats (global biodiversity hotspot and a UNESCO World Heritage Site) into three large fragments threaten to endanger protected forest land, its biodiversity and 100-years of heritage that has been living symbiotically and sustainably with the people of the State.
Heta Pandit, Co-Founder GHAG said, “Hinterland tourism is not only a growing revenue generator for the State but can safeguard our position on the global tourism map as it provides a buffer when the coastal belt is closed during the monsoons.”
The GHAG in its letter pushes for a Cumulative impact assessment of all three projects that cannot be looked in isolation. They also urge the Committee to reconsider the alignment of the proposed double track railway line that will potentially damage the heritage buildings along the track.
“As far as we know, no studies or surveys or inventories have been conducted that evaluate the cultural, social, historic, architectural, archaeological or group value of these heritage structures and natural sites. How can we destroy something without knowing what is there and assessing its value?” Heta added.
The Rs 2,127 crore project also threatens the Bossuet Barros Pereira home built in 1828, listed as a “protected heritage home”, and St Lawrence Chapel at Arossim built in 1598. Lands belonging to former Chief Minister (late) Luis Proto Barbosa, and former Tourism Minister (late) Matanhy Saldanha who was a staunch environmentalist himself, also figure in the land acquisition notices. Ancestral homes with generations of history are sitting ducks in an ‘expansion’ that nobody but the government and their allies benefit from.
They point out that with a single-track railway line causing enough damage already and the government not placing enough regulations to transport the current 12.75 million tonnes (2016-17) brought into the state prudently, a 300% increase in coal intake seems to be nothing short of reckless. These heritage structures that have been built and restored over 80-100 years are already under duress and will not be able to stand for too long if things go as planned, they added.
“The character of Goa is defined by the natural and built heritage of the State and losing this to projects that destroy this is in a way losing our identity. The railway line is a scar that runs through the heart of our villages and while the single line has caused disturbance, a double lining especially with the millions of tonness of coal envisioned passing on it so close to residences is surely a disaster. Sustainability is about continuity and while change is inevitable with time we have to ensure it is kind and for the better. To compromise the lives of people and term it development is absurd, and if this so-called development is needed, alternatives are the need of the hour”, concluded architect Dean D’Cruz.
