VASCO
Once touted as a beacon of progress for the rapidly developing Sancoale area, the proposed establishment of a new police station has gradually turned into a saga of promises, opposition, and unfulfilled plans, leaving behind what appears to be a forgotten development project.
The proposed police station began as a promise of better policing, but somewhere between political rivalry, jurisdictional apprehensions, and official deliberations, that promise lost its way.
THE PROPOSALS
The proposal gained momentum with former BJP MLA Alina Saldanha, who envisioned the new police station as an essential infrastructure project for the area.
In October 2020, Saldanha said land had been identified and was optimistic that the new Sancoale police station could be constructed within a year.
The government had initially approved the proposal to establish the police station at the existing Zuarinagar police outpost. However, the location subsequently came under scrutiny as it was considered unsuitable due to its exposure to ammonia fumes.
The search for an alternative site led authorities to Upasnagar in Sancoale.
A joint site inspection was conducted involving officials from the police, the Administrator of Communidades (South Goa), and executive members of Sancoale Communidade. The Upasnagar site was projected as an ideal location, given its accessibility to the main road.
The Communidade had also agreed to provide land, giving the project another crucial ingredient to move from proposal to execution.
Saldanha had also stated the Sancoale police station could be temporarily housed in Housing Board units at Upasnagar till it got its own premises, for which a proposal had been submitted to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant.
At that stage, the project appeared to have crossed several hurdles that ordinarily stand between an announcement and actual construction.
THE OBSTACLES
But the road ahead proved considerably more complicated.
The proposal encountered its first major political roadblock in August 2021, when Cortalim Panchayat members, led by political rival Raymond Desa, objected to any move that could alter the existing jurisdiction of Verna Police Station.
Desa clarified that the opposition was not to a new police station but to any proposed change in jurisdiction that would inconvenience residents of Cortalim.
The opposition soon acquired a broader public dimension.
Over 800 signatures were collected from villagers of Cortalim, urging the chief minister to retain the village under the jurisdiction of Verna Police Station. Desa and his supporters had warned they would intensify their agitation if the proposed jurisdictional changes were pursued.
The political impasse deepened with the intervention of Panchayats Minister Mauvin Godinho, who emphasised that such an important infrastructure project required consensus among local communities and elected representatives.
Godinho had argued that if a new police station was genuinely required, it should be centrally located between the existing Verna police station and the Zuarinagar and Cortalim police outposts.
And that is where the trail of the Sancoale police station appeared to fade.
Despite the identification of land, the joint inspections, the Communidade’s willingness to provide the site and the proposal for temporary accommodation, the much-discussed police station never moved into the construction phase.
THE CHANGES
Meanwhile, Sancoale did not remain frozen in time.
The constituency has undergone substantial transformation, with new residential complexes, industrial establishments, expanding settlements, increased vehicular movement and a growing population placing greater demands on public infrastructure and essential services.
The policing requirements of an area that has expanded so rapidly cannot be expected to remain unchanged.
The political landscape too has changed.
Alina Saldanha is no longer the MLA representing the constituency, while officials associated with the original site inspections and deliberations have also moved on.
What has not moved, however, is the proposed police station.
The project now raises questions that go beyond political credit or blame. What became of the land identified at Upasnagar? Was the proposal formally shelved or merely kept in abeyance? Were the jurisdictional objections ever resolved? And does the government still intend to establish a dedicated police station for Sancoale?
The proposed Sancoale police station was once presented as a much-needed intervention for a rapidly changing area. It had a site, political backing, official inspections and even a projected timeline. Five years later, it has none of the physical attributes of a police station — only the paper trail of one.
