PANAJI
Controversy over the Kala Academy in Panaji and its renovation works refuses to die down. On Saturday a portion of the false ceiling roof in the violin classroom came crashing down, fortunately when the room was unoccupied.
The incident has raised fresh concerns over the quality of restoration and renovation work done at the cultural institution recently.
In another incident, chunks of concrete from the Udyog Bhavan building, located near Azad Maidan, Panaji fell onto the adjacent footpath, raising serious concerns over public safety.
The structure, alleged to be in a state of disrepair, houses several important government offices, including the Department of Information and Publicity and the GHRSSIDC emporium.
Secretary of Rakhonn Mandd, a collective of artists, Cecille Rodrigues said, the Kala Academy incident is a direct result of substandard workmanship and blatant disregard for quality and safety protocols.
"Rakhonn Mandd and even the newly appointed Task Force had repeatedly raised red flags about the shoddy work, but the concerns were ignored," Rodrigues said.
The renovation work at Kala Academy which had been started in 2020-21 and completed last year was mired in controversy with allegations of corruption and fears that the Charles Correa designed structure would be altered.
A task force constituted by the State government in the face of consistent criticism had identified faults in the job and the State government had referred the matter to the Vigilance Department. Details of the probe by the Vigilance are yet to be made public.
