Big talks to save Camara Bldg come to a naught

The ground reality, however, remains unchanged. While the Conservation Committee might have bestowed the heritage status on the heritage building, conservation of the heritage building still remains a pipe dream.

Despite pleas made by historians and conservationists to save the history of the Margao Municipal building dating back to the Portuguese era, proposals to conserve the historical building has only remained on paper.

It is not out of place to mention here that the outgoing Council headed by then Chairperson Babita Prabhudesai had claimed that the Civic body had made a provision of Rs five crore to acquire the land housing the crumbling Camaara de Salcete building. What came in the way of the proposal remains unknown and it’s unclear whether the Civic body had moved any proposal to the government for the acquisition of the land and the building on the lines of the Kabrastan project at Sirvodem.

It may be noted that the outgoing Goa Forward-backed Council headed by Chairperson Babita Prabhudesai, had moved a proposal for land acquisition for a multi-purpose project at Sirvodem, before the proposal came a cropper due to objections from the local populace.

Incidentally, records shows that the MMC had first made a proposal to acquire the Salcete de Salcete building around 2010 during the tenure of former MMC Chairperson Savio Coutinho. The proposal, however, hit a block due to the nitty-gritty involved in land acquisition and for want of funds.

Historians led by Prajal Sakhardande had descended in the city three years later when an attempt was made to bring down the historical building on the plea that the crumbling structure poses risks to the tenants and the public at large.

WHAT PREVENTED MMC FROM UPDATING
LIST OF OLD AND DILAPIDATED BUILDINGS 

MARGAO: Partial collapse of the Casa Menezes building near the Gandhi market locality during the weekend has brought to the fore another question “ why the Civic body has not updated the list of old and dilapidated building dotting the commercial capital.

When a portion of the Casa Menezes building collapsed in the wee hours of Saturday last, Margao Municipal officials came rushing to the Civic body to check the status of the building, only to find that the building did not figure in the list of 22 buildings identified by the Civic body as old and dilapidated buildings.

The bigger question, however, remained unanswered “ what prevented the Civic body from updating the list of the old and dilapidated buildings from time to time, considering the fact that the Commercial capital plays host to hundreds of old building.

MMC officials pointed out that the list of old and dilapidated buildings was compiled in 2013, out of which only 14 buildings now figure in the list, with engineers saying the remaining building were struck off from the list after the owners got their repaired and obtained stability report.

They, however, have no answer why the Civic body has not updated the list of old and dilapidated buildings, which not only pose a risk and threat to the occupants, but the public at large.

When this question was posed to Margao Municipal Chief Officer, Agnelo Fernandes, he was quick to concede that the Civic body has not updated the list in recent years. In fact, the Chief Officer said he has decided to start the exercise afresh with the help of the City Fathers and the MMC technical section. “I think the process of identifying old and dilapidated building should be an ongoing one, considering the risk and danger that these structures pose to humans. I have decided to start the process again with the cooperation of the Councilors and the Municipal engineers”, he said.

The Chief Officer further pointed out that the Casa Menezes building which came crashing down during the weekend fid not find mention in the list of old buildings compiled by the Civic body in 2013.