Builders use 'repair/reconstruction' route to alter Panaji's architecture

GETTING AWAY

CASE 1
A shop in 'Praco de Commercio' building adjacent to CCP has already undergone massive changes including change in flooring tiles, fresh plastering, a new mezzanine framework with MS channel frames and demolition of a laterite wall common with an adjacent shop

CASE 2
The process of issuing a show-cause notice and other legal formalities dragged on for over three months during which massive changes including replacing Portuguese-era roofing beams was completed at a structure located opposite the Captain of Ports office
---------------------------------------------

PANAJI: With enforcement and supervision by the CCP's technical section lax under a heap of bureaucratic red-tape, owners and builders are increasingly taking the illegal repair and re-construction route without seeking any permission to alter Panaji's architectural heritage brick by brick, one edifice after another. Questions have been raised by complainants over repairs and civil work being carried out on at least two prominent structures located in close proximity to the CCP's own administrative building. But more than meeting the paperwork of issuing show-cause notices the law mandates, the enforcement wing of CCP has done little to insulate this assault on Panaji's architectural sanctity.
The two structures in question are a shop in the 'Praco de Commercio' building adjacent to CCP and the other located opposite the Captain of Ports office along the DB Marg running along the Mandovi river.
In the first case, Commissioner of CCP Ajit Roy issued 'stop work' orders as recently as December 2018 to one Raiu Poi Vernekar. Since Vernekar has expired, Roy directed CCP officials to also issue show-cause notices to all his legal heirs.
But with precious weeks lost in this exchange of notices, the edifice has already undergone massive changes including change in flooring tiles, fresh plastering, a new mezzanine framework with MS channel frames and demolition of a laterite wall common with an adjacent shop.
Ditto is the case of the ground-plus-one edifice with tile roof, located opposite the Captain of Ports building. In this case, work had begun in the monsoon months and CCP officials dragged their feet in acting against the illegalities despite a written complaint having been filed.
The process of issuing a show-cause notice to the owner, Tahir Isani, conducting a site inspection and proceeding against the alleged illegality dragged on for over three months during which massive changes including replacing Portuguese-era roofing beams was completed.
The case of these two structures are clearly indicative of how CCP's snail's pace is letting owners get away with violations and in the bargain causing permanent damage to the capital city, once a showpiece of Goa's famed Indo-Portuguese architecture.
Like these several other such tile-roofed structures that once dotted Panaji have got transformed into modern edifices and house showrooms selling some of the world's top branded goods.