MARGAO
The Margao Post Office, one of the many heritage structures standing tall in the commercial capital, may witness a makeover, if plans by the Postmaster General, Goa, Vinod Kumar Verma, take off in the coming financial year.
Margao Municipal Chairperson, Dr Babita Angle, has advised the Postmaster General to maintain the heritage status of the building, even going to the extent of offering free advice from city-based architects to the postal department before effecting any changes to the building.
Kumar has proposed renovating the Margao Post office building to meet the growing requirement, but concerns over the heritage status of the decades-old building located at the Margao Municipal square may hinder the process.
“Yes, I have plans to renovate the Margao post office building. But since it is a heritage building, I will not be able to undertake many changes. Somehow, we want to carry out the renovation in the next financial year,” Verma said.
Replying to a question, Verma told The Goan that he is ready to spend an amount of `20-30 lakh towards the renovation of the post office building.
“I have full authority to spend the amount to carry out the repairs. The renovation will also provide additional space in the congested building,” he said.
The Postmaster who had a word with Margao Municipal chairperson, Dr Babita Angle Prabhudesai, on the issue was advised by the civic chief not to do anything that will disturb the heritage status of the post office building.
“Dr Angle has also shared our concern that nothing should be done that would disturb the heritage character of the building. We will also take the advice of Margao architects to ensure that the renovation work is undertaken by retaining its heritage character,” he said.
The Margao post office building located in the heart of the commercial centre around the busy Margao Municipal square has been craving for attention for long now. Huge serpentine queues of senior citizens and other customers, spilling over to the footpath for want of adequate space inside, is literally the order of the day. Previous attempts by Verma’s predecessors to take up the renovation and repair work have all come to a naught.
