MARGAO
The South West Monsoons had retreated long ago, but the plastic sheets put up to cover the Margao Municipal heritage building to prevent rain seepage continue to hang on the outer walls of the heritage structure.
The plans unveiled by successive Councils to rope in the Goa State Urban Development Agency (GSUDA) to renovate the heritage structure made no progress in 2023.
A look at the imposing municipal building would reveal that the paint has completely faded, making the structure an eyesore. That the building plays host to vegetation at a number of places has not spurred the City Fathers, the babus or the powers that be controlling the municipal body to clear the same.
Given that the monsoons retreated long ago, the municipal babus ought to have stepped in to remove the plastic sheets adorning the heritage building, giving a bad look to the imposing structure. Neither the City Fathers nor the officials have issued any instructions to clear the plastic sheets hanging on the outer walls when hordes of tourists have descended in the commercial capital to usher in the Christmas and New Year festivities.
Leave alone giving the heritage building a coat of new paint ahead of the festive season, sources said the civic officials did not even bother to pull down the plastic sheets hanging on the building's outer walls.
Meanwhile, the Goa State Urban Development Agency is yet to take a call on the Margao Municipal Council’s proposal to undertake renovation of the heritage building, throwing up a question of whether the proposed renovation will take place in the New Year or whether Madgavkars will have to wait for yet another year before the authorities repair, renovate and deck up the building befitting the heritage structure.
