PANAJI
These books contain wealth of information written in a very lucid way, which highlights Panaji’s past from the time it was unofficial capital of Portuguese Goa to the period when crucial works were carried out to make it a capital city.
Talking about the books which was released on Wednesday, Dr Pinto said, “It was in 1843 that Panaji officially became the capital. Prior to that, when it was the unofficial capital, government offices were being run in Panaji in rented premises, which actually belonged to prominent business families.”
She further highlighted that the core works of Panaji were undertaken in thirty years spanning from 1875 to 1905. Dr Pinto said, “The entire roadway of Panaji apart from minor changes was done in that period. The embankments too were done in this phase.”
In modern times, Panaji has battled with garbage menace. Dr Pinto shared interesting information from the past shedding light on how Portuguese dealt with the problem, then.
She said, “Garbage collection started in Panaji way back in 1859. Collection of human waste started in 1896. Further to that, electricity and drainage reached the capital city in 1929, while the septic tanks were introduced in 1936.”
Eminent people including Panaji MLA Sidharth Kuncalienker, scientist Dr Nandkumar Kamat and Patricia Pinto, environmentalist were also present on the occasion.
Patricia Pinto said, “These books describe how Panaji faced garbage problem in 1850s, which also resulted in diseases. Then, the government had pulled up the municipality, which started garbage collection using bullock-carts. 55 years after liberation, Panaji continues to struggle with garbage problem today.”
Patricia also expressed her unhappiness with the recently notified Panaji Outline Development Plan (ODP), as she said, “This ODP will add to our woes because land use has been changed considering personal requests. It also ignores parts of Panaji like Altinho, Campal and Fontainhas have distinct characteristics.”
“These issues have to be dealt with or otherwise someone will write a book on faulty planning in Panaji in 21st century,”added Patricia.
