PANAJI
The online petition which is based on the drawings of the new building being circulated by the Mayor himself, questions why such an “architectural blunder” is being built.
“Are we willing to leave architectural blunders as a legacy for the future generations instead of the rich architectural heritage passed on to us?” the petition, initiated by one Tahir Noronha, has questioned.
“In the capital city of Panaji, with such a strong and unique architectural character, should the seat of the local government have Greek architectural impressions?” Noronha asks, adding that all public buildings should go through a competition system with a credible jury to arrive at a final design.
Noronha has said that the petition will be handed over to Mayor Surendra Furtado and Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar who also seeks to campaign from Panaji in the upcoming by-polls.
Furtado has, however, stressed that while none of his plans or designs are final, and that there is nothing wrong in having a ‘Greek design’ for Panaji.
“Where has our Goan heritage architecture come from? Is it not inspired by European architecture that of Rome, Greece and Spain? All our churches are taken from Europe,” Furtado said.
“Nonetheless, this is not the final plan. The designer has not been given any letter of intent or any contract. He has only helped the CCP to envisage what kind of building can be built in this kind of space,” Furtado said, adding that he had met the designer one fine day in Panaji and had asked him as a favour to put in black and white the plans.
“We have to first get the approval of the CM and the State government who will then have to send the plans to GSUDA which has access to central government funds for the construction of municipal buildings,” he said.
Furtado has plans to make the Panaji municipal square like the London square and will hand over the new office space only to government offices and nationalised banks “because they are the only people who pay rent without politicking.”
