Narrow corridors, lack of visitor’s gallery are the low down
The Directorate of Archives & Archaeology Goa is theoldest archives institute in the country and houses some very old and preciousrecords, but sadly, it has failed to keep pace with changing times.
The nodal office at Rua de Ourem, Panjim is fighting forspace, even as records keep piling up and occupies each and every availableoffice space.
It’s double whammy for the department, as even as the spaceinside shrinks there is no much space outside the office.
On a given day more than 100 people visit the archivesoffice and the first problem they encounter is parking.
The department does not have a visitor’s gallery too and thecorridors in the office are narrow giving very little space for the visitors tonegotiate.
The Directorate of Archives & Archaeology Goa preservesPortuguese records of as early as the 15th century. The archives office wasfirst established by the Portuguese in 1595. The archives then known as “Torredo Tombo do Estado da India" was first set up by the famous historianDiogo do Couto, who was also its first records keeper.
The department of Archives & Archaeology Goa isscattered in three different premises. The head office is located at Rua deOurem, Panjim which serves as the administrative office cum repositories. Theother two sections are located at Daulat building in St Inez and IPHB Althino.
Initially the building at Rua de Ourem accommodated threedepartments – that of Archives, Archeology and Museum. However, as thecollection of records increased the Museum section was shifted to a new premiseat Patto Plaza.
Although the total staff strength of the Directorate ofArchives & Archaeology Goa is 140, 40 of which work at the Rua de Ourem,the department faces acute staff shortage.
People who visit the department complain of delay inservice.
“Although the staff here are helpful and attends promptly,however, for last two days I have been moving from pillar to post to retrievesome old records,” a visitor Darren Almeida told The Goan.
The government did try to bring the scattered Directorate ofArchives & Archaeology offices under one roof. Some years back around15,000 sq m of land at Morombi O Pequeno near Merces was identified for thepurpose. Later a plot of land for the new building was identified at PattoPlaza, which was suddenly abandoned.
“We made several representations to the State governmentrequesting it to shift the office to new and spacious premises, possibly in andaround Patto. However, we are still awaiting action from the government,” thedirector of Directorate of Archives & Archaeology, Goa, M L Dicholkar said.
Although the precious records are preserved in a mostscientific manner, they need to be protected from unfortunate disasters likefire, leaking roof and damp walls.
“As these records are priceless we take precautions whilestoring them. We store them at least one meter above ground level in racks, asthere are chances of rain water entering inside the records room during thehigh tide,” archivists, Mahamdul Shaikh said.
In spite of the priceless documents, the officials of fireand emergency never paid a visit to the department.
“According to therecords, we have never visited the building and also never received anycommunication from Directorate of Archives & Archaeology. However as it isa matter of serious concern we would initiate action and would issue directionson fire safety to them,” Rajendra Haldankar, Asst Divisional officer Fire andemergency services said.
