PANAJI (UCAN): Catholics in Goa state, India, urged the authorities to immediately halt a housing-cum-commercial complex near the ruins of St. Augustine’s Tower, a 16th-century landmark and UNESCO-listed World Heritage Site.
The Se-Old-Goa panchayat, a local government council, issued a “stop work” order following a complaint from Amba Amonkar, an elected council official, on June 21. The construction project by the Summit Woods Ltd company was deemed illegal,
“It has been brought to our notice that some illegal construction is going on by fencing the site near St Augustine Tower. This construction is likely to fall within the vicinity of the protected area under the Archaeological Survey of India,” Medha Parvatkar, the council head, said in the letter.
“Under such circumstances, you are directed to stop work at once and approach this office within three days of this notice along with all documents to prove that the construction undertaken by you is not illegal,” the letter read.
It said that if the order is not followed, the council will act against the company as per the state’s existing law.
St. Augustine’s Tower is a historic landmark, a 46 metre high tower that was the belfry and part of the façade of the magnificent Church of St. Augustine, according to the Goa state government.
“Being a UNESCO World Heritage Site, no construction is permitted within 300 metres of its location,” Peter Viegas, a coordinator of the committee, said.
The company did not get permission from the village council for the construction as required, but started its work, he alleged.
“And we found out that the company had cut many trees, the area was already fenced with tall tin sheets so that nobody could see that the digging work was already in progress,” Viegas pointed out.
He alleged that the state government did not provide a Master Plan “to safeguard and preserve the Old Goa heritage site for posterity.”
In 2014, the government demolished 150 illegal structures in Old Goa to make up for land shortage amid a huge influx of tourists, he added.
In May, villagers from Se Old Goa wrote a letter to the federal National Monument Authority and the Goa Chief Town Planner opposing a three-storied police station near the Basilica of Bom Jesus, according to Glean Cabral, a local resident.
“This is not permissible under any law,” he noted.
The 16th century basilica houses the sacred relics of St. Francis Xavier, who arrived in Goa in 1542 and is credited for spreading Catholicism in many parts of Asia.
