Team Herald
PANJIM: Goa Heritage Action Group (GHAG) on Tuesday said it will be writing to the Goa Infrastructure Development Corporation (GSIDC) over the demolition of the heritage wall at Gaundalim for road widening works.
Speaking to Herald, GHAG Vice-Chairman Prajal Sakhardande said, “We visited the site and we saw that parts of the wall had been demolished for road widening works by GSIDC. I have already interacted with Siddharth Kuncalienkar on social media and I will be writing officially. If this is the case today what will happen after Old Goa comes under the PDA?”
He added, “This heritage wall does not come under the ASI but comes under the 1 km buffer zone of UNESCO and ASI, but all the rules are flouted. If Old Goa is included under PDA it will be a backdoor entry to builders in nexus with politicians. If this is done then UNESCO will de-notify the State’s only world heritage site,” Sakhardande said.
He further said that GHAG strongly opposes the inclusion of Old Goa in the PDA as it will destroy the heritage sites as builders will try to bulldoze them in nexus with politicians.
“Within one km of the UNESCO notified sites there can be no development; in fact it’s no development zone. We demand and request Archaeology Minister Vijai Sardesai to intervene and stop the inclusion of Old Goa under the PDA,” he added.
