PANAJI
Two years after it was unveiled with much fanfare in the virtual presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Goa government’s ambitious redevelopment plan around the Basilica of Bom Jesus seems to have run aground amid public opposition that forced the State to propose changes to what was once a fully approved design.
The project, sanctioned under the Centre’s Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Heritage Augmentation Drive (PRASHAD) scheme, was launched online in March 2024 as part of a nationwide push to upgrade facilities at major religious sites. Costing Rs 16.46 crore, the plan promised new infrastructure for pilgrims and tourists visiting Old Goa, including a large parking facility and a heritage interpretation centre.
Sources told The Goan that, while the work technically commenced with authorities citing 24.78 per cent physical progress, the State has proposed deviations. “We have proposed deviations. It will now be placed before the Central Sanctioning & Monitoring Committee, which is the apex body for approving projects and monitoring their progress for developing tourism infrastructure at pilgrimage sites,” the source said.
Not a single rupee has been utilised from the sanctioned project cost approved on December 4, 2024.
The controversy centred on the proposed parking lot, designed to accommodate 132 vehicles, including 16 buses and more than 200 two-wheelers, along with a heritage interpretation centre offering digital exhibits, hop-on hop-off services, e-vehicles, a cafeteria, administrative offices and security facilities.
The locals, who opposed the project, argued that the complex, planned near the UNESCO World Heritage site, would amount to the commercialisation of the sacred precinct.
That opposition spilled onto the streets last year, when hundreds of them marched through Old Goa while the Save Old Goa Action Committee termed the project outrageous, warning that any large commercial structure within 100 metres of the Basilica of Bom Jesus would irreversibly damage the sanctity of the site.
The State government, for its part, defended the proposal as an effort to provide additional amenities for pilgrims and tourists, arguing that improved facilities were necessary to manage crowds and enhance visitor experience.
Meanwhile, even as the Old Goa plan is presently frozen, the government has moved ahead with work under Swadesh Darshan 2.0, including the Rs 19.89-crore Colva Beach Experience project, sanctioned in August 2024 and where work has begun recently.
