A decision was made by the state government to set up a power-packed committee to coordinate the maintenance of the World Heritage Monuments in Old Goa headed by the CM Pramod Sawant. This committee will oversee the coordination between the governmental departments, religious bodies and the Archaeological Survey of India. On the face of it is a commendable move but will it amount to anything given a general perception that such moves amount to nothing and they usually turn out to be just another government body that does nothing.
The maintenance of these living monuments has always been the perfect setting for clashes between the parties concerned. Raya Sankhwalkar, Hon Sec of Goa Heritage Action Group felt it was a positive step. He said “It’s good the CM took the initiate because he understands this World Heritage Site is important. Whether it is an inclusive committee, that I cannot tell you. We, Goa only conservation NGO asked to be included and we did not hear a peep from the government”.
He felt a government department handling conservation was not bad because the ASI did not have the money to ensure the job was done as per the standards. There is a need for money as well as expertise. The CM, he felt would be able to sort these problems out. The presence of the NGO he felt would have helped with their inputs. He said, “The monuments need experts with the specific skill set who can guide”. Getting into specifics as to what needed to be done on the ground, he said it was important the buffer zone area was not violated. Violations should not be tolerated in the area and should be stamped out. The government could provide financial assistance for the protection of these places and ensure the very professionals were hired for the conservation job. It was also important to understand that as a living monument one would have to set up safeguards and barriers to prevent its destruction by visitors.
Fernando Velho a freelance architect said “In a competitive global tourism environment our unplanned beach fronts and heritage spaces have effectively ended Goa’s tourism appeal. The central and state laws meant to protect Old Goa’s built and natural heritage have been conveniently sabotaged by various state governments over the last 15 years for infrastructure development like highways, garbage plants and for real estate interests.
When progressive measures are proposed like by-laws for the archaeological site of Old Goa and the planned 21 km long heritage trail along the outer fortification wall by visionaries like Edgar Ribeiro and Charles Correa they remain on paper. These government committees are meaningless if the buffer zones and CRZ lines are not marked on TCP maps and new heritage by-laws promulgated for the World Heritage Site to boost Old Goa’s overall heritage tourism profile”. It made a lot of sense that observation.
Dean D’cruz of Mozaic an architectural firm felt the effectiveness of the committee would depend on who was on it to map the illegalities and how much teeth it had. Speaking of the area he said “You have to understand the space is very dead. It needs something to attract. Look at similar places like this in Italy or France, they have done something to attract people. There are restaurants, curated walks. Look at the Golden Temple in Amritsar, it is a fantastic usage of the space around the temple. It is a car-free zone. You step out and you walk but you just don’t feel it. There are outlets that keep you occupied. The place has been revitalised. We need to do something around in the Old Goa site. What it needs is an urban intervention. It can be well shaded and turned into a very good experience”.
Another party very interested in these developments is the archdioceses. Father Noel D Costa, the financial administrator of the archdioceses said the committee was the result of what had happened during the episode involving the basilica. He said there was work taking place at various levels. He said there was a masterplan that was being worked on. The foundation, he said was involved in it. There were other aspects like the closing of the road which would require coordination with various stakeholders like small traders, the archdioceses, the ASI and other parties. Father Noel said it was important to ensure that the zone around the monuments was not breached. He, however, maintained these were all teething problems and the CM was very helpful and he hoped some good would come out of it.
One can only hope the aim with which this entire exercise has commenced will be achieved.
