OLD GOA
The process to shift the offices of the Department of Archives to private premises at the Kadamba Plateau in Chimbel till a permanent location is found has not gone down well with the public.
The offices have been shifted to three floors in one building and one floor of the adjacent building, but the location has been criticised as there is no public transport all along the Kadamba bypass.
People who wish to visit the offices of the Department of Archives from the Panaji side of the bypass have to get off at the nearest bus stop at the Chimbel junction and then walk a steep climb along the busy highway for over 500 metres.
The situation is even worse for people from the Ponda side of the bypass as the nearest bus stop is at the Old Goa junction, which is several kilometres away from the offices of the Department of Archives.
Speaking to The Goan, former bureaucrat Elvis Gomes said, “How can such an important department that people go to for various records be shifted to a place which does not have proper public transport?”
“This government is not for the good of the common man and those who use public transport will be the most affected.”
“Besides, shifting of such important documents of historical value in a privately owned building may also pose a security risk to such priceless heritage and cause destruction of evidence. The CM must review the decision,” Gomes added.
Chimbel local and RGP leader Ajay Kholkar said for someone who travels by public transport, the location will cause huge inconvenience as the nearest bus stop is at the Chimbel junction, which is normally jam packed.
“Then, there is a steep slope to walk to the rented premises as there are no rickshaws or motorcycle pilots at the junction. The move appears to put the department itself into archives,” Kholkar informed.
Activist Mariano Ferrao said the move is nothing but an attempt to harass the public.
“How will one who does not have his or her own transport reach this site?” Ferrao questioned and informed that it appears that the shifting was done without proper study.
“Earlier, the office was easily accessible to the public who would come for various records. And it would have been only prudent that the same was shifted in Panaji itself,” Ferrao added.
Another activist Anthony D’Silva said though it was a good move to shift the office to a new premise, the problem of lack of public transport should have been taken into consideration.
“The authorities should have given a thought of how people with no transportation of their own would travel to the place. And now that the shifting has been done, some sort of public transport should be provided to the public,” D’Silva added.
A local from Ponda, on condition of anonymity, pointed out that those coming from Ponda would have to face a tricky situation to get to the office.
“People will be forced to go right up to the Chimbel junction and take a U-turn to then take the road to reach the site. If anybody uses the Chimbel underpass, then they would have to go on the wrong side to reach the building,” the Ponda local said, while adding that it then poses dangers to the public as this area is known to be an accident prone zone.
The Ponda local then chided the move to shift the office at such a location and demanded that the same be shifted somewhere where there is easy accessibility to the public.
During the inauguration of the offices on Friday, Minister for Archives Subhash Phaldesai had said the new office is being shifted to a rented premise and that, the government is in the process of identifying suitable land to construct a new building for Archives and Archaeology department.
He said that the relocation of the department was necessary due to the vulnerability of its location in Mala-Panaji area, which is vulnerable to flooding during monsoon, endangering centuries-old archives.
