MARGAO
A new dispensation assuming charge in the commercial capital following political changes a month and a half ago has thrown up a new developmental mantra – City’s beautification.
Returning to power after a decade in the opposition, when he abandoned the Congress to return to BJP after 17 years, seven-time Margao MLA Digambar Kamat has gone about breaking coconuts to launch beautification works across the Margao municipal limits.
Even as the Margao civic body has planned works which are expected to add beauty and aesthetics to the city, also known as the cultural capital, these four landmarks, all located around the Margao municipal garden in the heart of the town, seemed craving attention for a coat of fresh paint.
Madgavkars in particular and visitors to the commercial capital have been left to wonder why these four landmarks -- the century-old Margao municipal building, the half-a-century-old Administrator of Comunidade building, the Margao Post Office and the Old Collectorate building -- have not received a fresh coat of paint on its wall for long now.
These landmarks, especially the Margao municipal building and the imposing comunidade building, have a rich history behind them, but the structures stand tall as an eyesore for want of maintenance. With a festive season around the corner and the heart of the town visited by scores during the peak tourism season, citizens wonder whether these buildings will receive the attention they deserve from the powers that be.
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Margao municipal building
The over-century old Margao municipal building has been craving attention from the City Fathers and Babus for over half-a-decade ago now. Successive municipal councils and chairpersons have handed out one common assurance – to restore the building to its past glory.
The last time, the MMC building had undergone repairs was around two decades ago when the imposing civic administrative building was due to commemorate its centenary year. If sources are to be believed, the building must have received a fresh coat of paint only once in the last 20 years, when the brick red paint was replaced with yellow and white.
Since then, the building has not only been craving a coat of paint but overall maintenance, with water seepage during the monsoon, and broken windows and doors, literally being the order of the day.
Inquiries have revealed that a proposal which was mooted to paint the building half a decade ago never saw the light of the day after the painting was one of the works that had come under the scanner of the vigilance. Another proposal was mooted to take up the MMC building through the Goa State Urban Development Agency (GSUDA), which was then executing the work of beautification of the historic Lohia Maidan. Sadly, the proposal has not seen the light of day to date.
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Administrator of Comunidade building
The imposing Administrator of Comunidades building, which has been the seat of the comunidades from South Goa over the years, is another case in point. The building stands closed now after the office of the Administrator of Comunidades was shifted to the Old Collectorate building around 3-4 years ago due to rainwater seepage.
Since then, the building remained abandoned and unoccupied even though a structural stability report raised hopes of restoring it to its pristine glory, but in vain. The structural stability report literally lay buried in the dusty records of the revenue department since it was submitted by the Goa College of Engineering.
While sources informed that the PWD has floated a tender to take up the repairs of the building, the tender has gone abegging for want of contractors.
A comunidade component Celestin Norohna blamed the government and the revenue officials for indifference towards the building and the comunidades. “The components of comunidades had agreed to fund the building maintenance, but we have not been taken into confidence about the status of the work. The government has also not clarified what role will the components play once the building is restored,” Celestin said.
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Margao Head Post office
Located on the southern side of the sprawling municipal garden, the Margao post office has been craving a fresh coat of paint. Take note, the post office is being painted at regular intervals by the postal authorities, but the red and white on the building has almost faded.
A local councillor pointed out that the Margao MLA or the civic body should take up the matter with the postal authorities to initiate the painting work and give a heritage building a new look. “The Margao post office is located around the municipal garden, at a prime location and a junction. A fresh coat of paint would give the building a new look,” remarked a councillor.
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Old district Collectorate building
Revenue departments housed inside the Old Collectorate building at the municipal garden were all shifted to the Matanhy Saldanha Administrative Complex over a decade ago. The objective behind the shift to the new building was to decongest the city and house government departments under one roof.
The Old Collectorate building is now again bustling with activity with the government deciding to utilise the vacant building, housing a couple of departments, including the office of the South Goa Zilla Panchayat. Sadly, while the building is now almost occupied by a host of departments, the government seemed to have ignored the need to whitewash the four-storied building.
The paint has faded completely giving the building a decaying look, but the situation has not prompted the powers that be and the officials to whitewash the building.
