The Save Old Goa Action Committee has issued a strong objection to the proposed construction of a new police station at the site of the existing Old Goa Police Station, arguing that the project falls squarely within the buffer zone of the UNESCO World Heritage Site surrounding the Basilica of Bom Jesus. In a letter, the group has urged the Se Old Goa Village Panchayat to immediately withhold all permissions for the project.
The committee maintained that no new concrete structures—legal or illegal—should be permitted within the protected zone until a comprehensive Master Plan for the World Heritage Site is prepared in consultation with all stakeholders. These, it said, must include the Church (as owner of the Basilica), the Town and Country Planning Department (TCP), the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), government bodies, historians, intellectuals and local residents.
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Information obtained under the RTI Act from the TCP reveals that the proposed police station is planned to be 12.70 metres high—a scale the committee insists violates ASI norms and UNESCO guidelines that prohibit concrete construction within the designated buffer zone.
Residents also highlighted the area’s already strained infrastructure, warning that a larger police station would exacerbate heavy traffic, particularly during the annual St Francis Xavier novena and feast, which draws thousands of pilgrims to Old Goa. They further cautioned that increased vehicular movement could destabilise the “fragile ground” beneath the heritage monuments due to vibrations caused by heavy transport.
The committee stressed that it does not oppose repairs or renovation of the existing police station, so long as it continues to serve as a local outpost for Se Old Goa and does not entail any expansion or new construction within the restricted area.
The letter was signed by several residents, including Fatima Pereira, President of the Save Old Goa Action Committee, along with Jacklene Fernandes, Jennifer Lobo, Colonne Pines, Charles Fernandes and Vincent D’Silva. The group has also requested that the issue be placed on the agenda of the upcoming Gram Sabha for public discussion.
