Just a day after Panaji recorded the first seasonal rainfall, the recently renovated and partially opened Kala Academy had infrastructural issues yet again as a portion of the false ceiling collapsed early Monday morning. The Dinanath Mangeshkar Auditorium also reportedly suffered leaks from the rooftop, which has raised questions about the overall quality of the renovation work. With this development, the blame game has commenced in earnest.
In all this quagmire, no one seems to be owning responsibility as the buck is being passed from one government department to another. Be that as it may, with the entire monsoon season in front of us, this incident seems just a trailer. It may be recalled that the iconic structure witnessed the collapse of the open auditorium’s rooftop in July 2023. It is learnt that approximately 75 crores of public funds have been utilised for the renovation of the prestigious centre of art.
With this development, visiting the centre of art in order to witness various programmes could put the lives of the general public in jeopardy. It seems necessary to carry out a thorough check of all the renovation works that have been carried out for its stability. The services of the students of Goa Engineering College (GEC) could be utilised for the same, and the report submitted to the government before the Kala Academy is made completely functional.
