This is a story from Chandigarh, the capital of another state which went to the polls simultaneously with Goa. And though this is not political, anyone who wishes to govern Goa should take note of this since this concerns our heritage. Much of Goa’s future lies in its past. And we look towards Goa’s future in the hands of a government which will take over in March, the failure of successive governments to protect our heritage is one of the most shameful failures of not just the government, but civic society as well.
Now here’s the Chandigarh story. Abha Narain Lambah, one of Mumbai’s foremost architects and conservation specialists, who grew up in Chandigarh, has been asked to prepare the conservation plan and advise the Chandigarh administration on the restoration of Le Corbusier’s Capitol complex, a UNESCO world Heritage site in Chandigarh – like our Old Goa heritage complex. She has just finished restoring the Central Hall of Mumbai’s town hall and the Asiatic Library.
These are signs that the Maharashtra government and the administration of Chandigarh are working with home grown talent of international standards and getting them officially involved in executing conservation and heritage projects. In Goa, the Goa Heritage Action Group (GHAG) finds it constantly at odds with the fact that heritage protection is never a negotiable mandate of governments. Unlike the Chandigarh administration, Goa’s foremost heritage groups, which work and fight for preservation and restoration of monuments, the protection of heritage sites and areas, implement No Development Zone (NDZ) rules around heritage areas and not just heritage sites, (like the Old Goa monuments and churches precinct); are at loggerheads with government. This is becaue the government of the day seldom engages them.
They do not include them in their planning and execution often relying on external and foreign consultants who draw up master plans without consulting the real masters- Goa’s very own heritage specialists.
Foot soldiers like Prajal Sakhardande and many others became generals for a selfless cause. It is Professor Sakhardande who gave a new definition to the term “Special Status” where preservation and conservation of heritage became a part of the Special Status movement. And yet GHAG are treated as a bunch of activists, and not as partners by government.
Unless Goa, like Chandigarh and Mumbai (the Punjab and Maharashtra governments) join hands with heritage lovers and organised groups and pivots efforts at heritage conservation through them, it will become an exercise in futility. In reality, a mere lip service is being given to heritage, while actions on the ground prove exactly the opposite.
It is appalling that in the Regional Plan, a proper mapping has not been done of state heritage structures in the no developmental zone. A 50 meters buffer zone from such structures to keep builders away should have been made mandatory and strictly implemented to prevent bulldozers coming into Goa’s heritage zones.
And as we know, the city councils have given license to companies to put up hoardings and signages at the entrance of heritage sites and it only on a complaint by the GHAG to the CCP commissioner that casino signages were dotting frontages of heritage structures were removed this Tuesday.
Which is why when you see the efforts of the Chandigarh administration or the City administration of Mumbai, we awaken to how cities, both old and new should be looked after, and lament at how Goa has got it all wrong.
Our monuments are under threat, our precious museums are not safe, our artefacts get stolen, our heritage sites get desecrated and then we spend crores of rupees to foreign consultants to make master plans.
There has been no safety audit been done for any heritage structures, protected by the government or privately owned by individuals. This includes the Basilica of Bom Jesus, declared a World Heritage Site. Meanwhile, so many heritage houses too have been destroyed by fire, because they haven’t been protected. There is no provision of providing relief to people who own heritage houses for their maintenance. In fact, most of the heritage houses that exist in the State are because of efforts of owners.
The new government of Goa needs to make serious efforts in working with the right people.
There are true Goan lovers who are heritage experts. They should be leading the conservation movement, not as private citizens but as ambassadors of the government. The Goa government should not just take a leaf but the whole book of administration of Chandigarh or Mumbai to know how this is done.
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