GUILHERME ALMEIDA
On November 5, it will be five years since the Margao Municipal Council adopted Resolution No 3772 to conserve the town’s buildings of heritage and historical importance – the old Municipal building known as Camara Municipal de Salsette located at Old Market and the ancestral house of the great Goan nationalist and parliamentarian Dr Francis Luis Gomes at Colmorod.
Nearly five years down the line and the two buildings continue to lie in ruins. Margao Municipal Council’s ambitious proposal to restore the two buildings is stuck up in bureaucratic red tape. Adding to the delay is the indifference and apathy by successive governments for its failure to step in and restore the heritage and historical buildings. What has further come in the way of the early restoration is the fact that both the buildings are under the possession of private owners.
MMC had proposed to acquire the land presently housing the two buildings as part of plans to restore the sites for posterity. What was mooted in late 2009 has not changed the ground reality at the site of the 18th century municipal building at Old Market with the heritage building lying in ruins till date.
A perusal of the Margao municipal file pertaining to the old municipal building only showed correspondence between the civic body and various departments seeking NOCs for acquisition of the land admeasuring 577.5 sq mts. Though the civic body had despatched letters seeking NOCs from a host of departments, it is crystal clear that things have not moved in the right direction for want of follow up action by civic babus. Half a decade since the municipal council had adopted the resolution, a formal land acquisition proposal has not gone to the government with the civic body attributing the delay by the concerned departments to accord the NOCs. The Director of Municipal Administration, Elvis Gomes, who had a meeting with the heritage lovers and the land owners last year, said that his office has not received any land acquisition proposal from the Margao civic body till date. “It’s more than a year now since we discussed about the restoration and conservation of the old municipal building. It’s true that the land proposed to be acquired is small, but the government cannot help when the land acquisition proposal is not forthcoming from the civic body”, remarked Gomes.
The proposal to restore the old municipal building had received a big boost around a year ago when historians, architects and citizens joined hands under the banner of Save Margao Heritage Movement and vowed to take up with the government authorities for the restoration and conservation of sites of heritage and historical importance. The Save Margao Heritage Movement led by former MMC chairperson Savio Coutinho was born against the backdrop of an abortive attempt by the Margao municipality to raze down the old municipal building on grounds that the same was unfit for human habitation and fearing that a concrete structure may take shape on the heritage site.
Incidentally, land owner Alina Vaz had written a letter to the Margao municipal Chief Officer on July 29, 2013 stating that she and her family are in the process of carrying out restoration works of the heritage house and are working out an architectural design as per the government guidelines. Alina had promised to restore the house to its original architectural glory, which will blend with the precincts of Holy Spirit Church area that will enhance the character of Margao town, but the ground reality remains unchanged at the site.
No one in the Margao civic body could authoritatively state how much more time will the municipality take to send the long delayed proposal for land acquisition to the government for approval. And, neither one could come across a sense of urgency in the corridors of the civic body on the issue, raising questions whether the Margao Municipal Council is only paying lip service to an issue involving conservation of a heritage site.
Former MMC chairperson Savio Coutinho, during whose tenure the resolution for conservation of the building was adopted way back in 2009, lamented that the issue has not received the importance it deserved. “That the proposal on land acquisition has not gone to the government even after half a decade shows the priorities of the Civic body”, he added.
