MARGAO
As government agencies including officials of the Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation, besides historian Prof Prajal Sakhardande descended in the village as part of the agenda to implement the heritage village status for Chandor, fears have been raised in certain quarters that practical difficulties may come to the fore while taking the agenda forward.
In fact, none other than Leader of Opposition, Yuri Alemao, who represents Cuncolim constituency, has visualised practical difficulties in the implementation of the plan to develop Chandor as a heritage village. The worry stems from the fact most of the heritage sites in question fall under the private ownership, including the local Fabrica, Comunidade, besides private properties.
Unless the Fabrica, Comunidade body and the private owners issue the required NOC, it is felt that it may take some time to implement the heritage village plan for Chandor.
While addressing the officials and villagers on Wednesday at the Chandor panchayat hall, Yuri was clear in pointing out that NOCs is a pre-requisite for taking up the works. That’s not all. He said the villagers and the officials have to decide which work to start right away, whether to take up the beautification works first, or works on the fort, etc.
“The GSIDC is on board, but the question remains how we start, the quantum of work, whether ASI and other agencies are coming into play,” Yuri said.
He added: “Basically, without NOCs from the owners, we cannot start the work on the project. The Fabrica and the Comunidade have to play a major role in the project. Besides, there are several private owners involved. We have to decided where do we start, what do we do and what is the scope of the job. Based on answers to these questions, we will inspect certain sites. Once we decide go to ahead, we will come out with a road map.”
Historian Prof Prajal Sakhardande along with locals and officials later went to a couple of sites, including the Nandi and on the banks of river Kushavati. “Goa’s first fort lies at Chandrapur, which is now Chandor. The site needs to be notified first. The Nandi is a notified site, but beyond that lies the fort at Cota. There are the actual gates to the fort. This needs to be notified first,” he said, while saying the people might object to the proposal since there are now houses in the area.
Chandor Sarpanch Estefan Dias later told The Goan that the panchayat had told the MLA and Opposition leader to start the project with the illumination works since no NOC is required for the execution of the work. “We can take stock of the situation, but we can start the illumination project as part of the plan,” he added.
