Dear Goanetters/BSG members, I was standing at the foot of the 1904 heritage cross near the Ferry Jetty and could not help recalling Prajal Sakhardande's article on it in the Navhind Times some time back. There was a JCB working IN THE RIVER Mandovi. At hand were Dr. Claude Alvares of the Goa Foundation and Dr.Arvind G.Untawale, Secretary of the Mangrove Society of India and the IPP of BSG. Both of them are members of the Goa State Coastal Zone Management Authority or CZMA constituted by the Supreme Court of India.. They were in telephonic contact with the Member-Secretary of CZMA. The subject of discussion: erosion of the 'authority' by illegal 'dredging'[ if excavation by earthmovers can be called that] apparently for ....hold your breath....to see films better! The works are being executed by AFCONS on behalf of Goa State Infrastructural Development Corporation Ltd. to create a four lane road to see the IFFI take off. The rest of Goa is at the cross roads like that famous moron with a knife and a pistol...not sure whether to cut across or shoot across the IFFI divide.
On 14 March,2004, I had stated at a public meeting that I was FOR the Goa IFFI and that I did not see any logical connection between the IFFI and the the earlier aborted four-lane project that the Goa Government is again pregnant with. The government is being rather secretive about the parentage of this new [mis]conception while being blatant about the pregnancy. The obvious joy of having the IFFI is as crass as that of a spinster who flaunts a huge belly. It is not really funny when a Government works on Sundays, Good Fridays and under the cover of darkness like some petty criminal. If a Government breaks the CRZ regulations and destroys the mangroves that it has notified as 'protected' just because the State Legislative Assembly elections are three years away and the political opposition is rather toothless, how does it become better than a zopadpatti dweller or pimp who illegally and illicitly erects a pucca house on a long week-end? Is this what 'good governance' is all about? Viva Goa. Miguel ... original 'raw' text of the article in North Goa Plus :[This is not a 'top post'] Perpetuating Panjim By Miguel Braganza Panjim is a charming town that has been the capital of Goa for more than two centuries. It is a quaint little place that has ornate houses in Campal and Altinho, the ancient houses of Mhamai Kamat, a worldfamed "Latin Quarter" in Fontainhas, Communidade Building, Boca da vaca, the church, Paco Patriarchal (residence of the Archbishop Patriach) and above all, the striking edifice of Adil Shah's Summer Palace straddling the River Mandovi. It is a town worth conserving -- even restoring -- for the generations to come. Those who love the town, and know a little bit about how the water of the River Mandovi behaves, would undoubtedly be happy to see a JCB excavator at work on the debris of the ill fated Nehru Bridge. The debris was senselessly dumped in the river during the 1980's near Adil Shah's palace that has served as the Government Secretariat since 1763. Poor garbage management led to the proliferation of rats and plague in Velha Goa (Old Goa). The shift to Nova Goa, that we now call Panaji, became inevitable. A few more years of silt deposition due to the bridge debris in the River Mandovi would have ensured the flooding and death of lowlying stretches of Panjim like Ponte de Linhares, Corte de Oitero, Rua de Ourem, MG Road and DB Road all the way to Miramar. Signs of things to come have been seen during the last few monsoons and forgotten by the start of the annual festive season. Public memory is shorter than one thinks although, Mother Nature gives periodic warnings before it strikes. A little bit about how a "river" like the Mandovi behaves may not be entirely out of place. During the monsoon period, it is like any river that flows into the sea and deposits silt at its mouth. It should normally have formed a delta. It has not. And with good reason. The 'river' Mandovi is actually an "estuary". During the post-monsoon period, it receives very little water from its tributaries. The level of water in the Mandovi falls below the level of water in the Arabian Sea as the tide begins to rise. The saline water flows into the 'river' upto a distance upstream where the fresh water level matches the level of the tide. It is due to this phenomenon that the monsoon water does not drain out of Panjim at high tide. It also forms a deposit -- the famous "barro da Aguada" across the river mouth. During the monsoon period the water in the river is red with silt. What the barges do in summer, the muddy waters do in the monsoon. A "spar" formed by stone or concrete deposited in the river makes the water to slow down and deposit the silt. It also diverts the water and makes it scour or erode another area, quite often, the opposite bank. The river loses depth and becomes shallow. It overflows its banks -- and floods. A flood is something we do not need in Panaji. The current correction by removal of debris is very welcome. Ten points out of ten to the current dispensation for correcting a wrong. However, if a causeway is built along the same stretch of the River Mandovi, it will be like the story of Avelino Pinto once more. People in Goa will remember the infamous case. A nice 'gentleman' in Mapusa picked up poor ,hapless, nubile girls from their misery that often included drunken parents. He fed them, housed them and clothed them in finery fit for a lady. He then sexually abused them and 'used' them in his extortion rackets. He used the laws of the land, the law enforcement agencies and the NGOs to his advantage. He is currently in jail and the first case under the Goa Children's Act,2003, is registered against him. The Goa Government seems to want to step into his shoes to rape the environment. Avelino is a decent looking person. People who know him never suspected him. Ditto for the current dispensation if it messes with the river. Panjim does not have a very long history. Its life began, so to say, the eve of colonial occupation. It began at the behest of a conqueror. Historians tell us that Yusuf Adil Shah of Bijapur annexed Goa in 1489-90 and made Ela (Old Goa) his district headquarters. He built his summer palace and harem in "Pajkhalli" on the banks of the River Mandovi. Since then, Panjim has flirted with the powers that be! On the first day of March, 1510, Afonso de Albuquerque captured the Adil Shah's palace (Palacio da Idalcao). Adilshah Ismail's forces re-took it soon thereafter. It was only in November 1510 that the Portuguese could re-captured the palace. The harem metamorphized into the "Fazenda" and currently houses the Directorate of Accounts in "liberated" Goa. It was on 22nd March 1843 that Queen Maria II of Portugal officially declared "Nova Goa" (as Panjim was then called) as the capital of Goa and the territories in the East. March and November are the months forever associated with the Palacio da Idalcao. Budgets were passed in March and Governments of the State of Goa collapsed with uncanny regularity during November. This March one notes with pride the removal of the debris from the collapsed Nehru Bridge. In November, Panjim will be ready for IFFI. One hopes that builders of today will not substitute the rats of the 1700's to 'plague' the capital of Goa once more. What about the Adil Shah's palace? The small cubicles (of P.S.s and P.A.s) can be removed to display the large wooden floored halls. The large rooms can be restored (not 'renovated') to the glory of the eras to which the palace belonged -- the Bahamani era, the Portuguese colonial era, the Bandodkar era, and the Statehood era. A few photographs, paintings, sets of furniture, notes, coins, documents of each era could be displayed. The history of the edifice is rich enough to be projected like that of the Red Fort or Taj Mahal or Victoria Memorial. A properly researched and created "Sonne et Lumiere" or Sound & Light programme at a fixed hour each evening would be just great. One does not need to make it a museum when it is intrinscally a storehouse of history! Let the River Mandovi flow languidly, without hindrance, to tell its own story. --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). 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