‘Shah Jahan’ model Kala Academy renovation gets fail marks

Task force Chairman Vijay Kenkre ‘dissatisfied’ over quality of work; task force team will meet all renovation project contractors on November 10
‘Shah Jahan’ model Kala Academy renovation gets fail marks
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Team Herald

PANJIM: Kala Academy task force Chairman Vijay Kenkre on Tuesday expressed extreme dissatisfaction over the quality of renovation work done at the iconic building.

The academy renovation has been mired in a string of controversies starting from the Culture Minister justifying giving the renovation contract to a party without tenders, by saying that Emperor Shah Jahan did not give tenders for the construction of Taj Mahal.

Speaking to reporters at the Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG) after holding a review meeting with the officials, Kenkre said, “I am not satisfied. The work can not be given even a passing percentage. A lot of work is required to be done. After holding a meeting today I can say that it is not up to the mark."

"But I can assure that now whatever work will be done will be done honestly. We need to talk to the experts about what exactly went wrong and we will have to correct that. Kala Academy was one of the best acoustically designed institutions in the country. We will have to get back that status. It has to be vibrant and there is no shortcut to that," he said.

"There are many problems and we need certain experts to resolve them. There is a problem of air conditioner, leakage, sound and acoustics and we need to sort out all these problems. We have discussed all these problems and prepared a programme list how to go ahead,” Kenkre said.

“We will have certain experts to do it. The experts will check the work which has already been done and also suggest what more needs to be done. However, it can not be done in a day. Though we will try to do it as early as possible. We will not repeat the mistake which has already been made," he said.

He said the task force will meet all contractors involved in the renovation project on November 10, 2024.

Meanwhile, speaking to O Heraldo, Devidas Amonkar, Convenor, Kala Rakhonn Mandd, said, "In every section there are some flaws. For example there is an issue with acoustics, wooden planks put on stage are of lower quality, there are no proper lights that we need for theatre and drama, green room not is not maintained properly, air conditioner has been put on the auditorium which was not there previously. This produces vibration and sound. So in every nook and corner there are problems. A slab in the open auditorium had collapsed. There is a problem with the black box."

"Our demand is that those who have been paid for the works, have to correct the works. After all it is the exchequer's money which is being used and yet things are not working properly," he said.

The newly constituted 13-member Kala Academy Task Force inspected the Kala Academy Complex on Monday, October 21, ahead of its first meeting held on October 22.

Meanwhile, Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) President Amit Patkar said, "After former Governor, Lokayukta & Speaker of Goa, now acclaimed Theatre & Film Personality of Goan origin and Chairman of Investigation Task Force of controversial Kala academy renovation work, Vijay Kenkre gives 'Certificate of Corruption' to BJP Government of Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant by clearly pointing to sub-standard works."

"Shameless BJP Government has given pains to Artist Community which can never be pardoned. Greed of BJP is all out to destroy even Art & Culture of Goa," he said.

Leader of Opposition Yuri Alemao said, "Our Goan artistes are not only accomplished in their field, but many of them are connoisseurs. Hence, when they had raised doubts of Kala Academy’s purposely nominated renovation work & failures, @goacm should have listened to them. Definitely it doesn’t meet the passing standard."

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