Many of us like to sit in the chai shop and gossip. Some like to oppose for the sake of opposing. If Egypt could have a long tunnel under the Suez canal and Dubai could have a skyscrapper under the sea what is wrong to have a tower at Baga to improve tourism ? Albert
Date: SMun, 3 Jun 2012 22:34:42 +0530 Subject: Re: [SALIGAONET] Government plans skyscraper in Baga's coastal regulation zone From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Anyone who has had the opportunity to go to the Mapusa registrar's office , would have seen first hand , the fate of multi-storied buildings in Goa ! Sanjeev On Sun, Jun 3, 2012 at 5:05 AM, dilip dacruz <[email protected]> wrote: All very true, Al, and well put but I think they are aware of everything you've said and have chosen to turn a blind, greedy eye. I can see the end result of this project with ease: It is delayed, over-runs and over-spends. It actually becomes 40 storeys if property prices rise, or stops at 15 if they crash. The building is not quite vertical and the windows used are below spec. They leak. It turns a shade of gray after the first rains, and is never re-painted. Un-named individuals related to the ministry become owners of various floors and the gardens are never quite completed, nor the rubble removed from the roadside. The palm leaf shacks that house the labourers who built the structure become a permanent feature sited about 20m away with no sanitation ... and no goans. And the tourists will have long stopped coming to see plastic bags, rabid dogs, crowded roads and polluted waters. Desperately sad. [email protected] From: [email protected] Date: Sat, 2 Jun 2012 16:12:13 -0400 Subject: Re: [SALIGAONET] Government plans skyscraper in Baga's coastal regulation zone To: [email protected] A viewing tower in Baga!! The Minister surely jests. Yes - there are viewing towers in Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo - and in hundreds of CITIES around the world. There are no viewing towers at beach resorts in developing countries - will someone please tell the minister? Did he perchance note that the majority of visitors to these towers are drawn from very large and affluent local populations? Can you imagine a foreign tourist deciding on Goa for his next vacation just because of a new "Viewing Tower" ? Can you imagine villagers from Saligao, Guirim, Uccasaim etc. driving to Baga for a night out at the "Viewing Tower," paying a fee to get to the 25th floor for an expensive dinner in a restaurant with a beautiful night view of the Arabian Sea? Great fodder for a comedy sketch if it wasn't so pathetic. The next level of tourism for Goa unfortunately is a pipe dream - there was no planned tourism policy governing the first level. Entrepreneurs understandably exploited Goa's natural beauty and built beach hostelries & shacks with no consideration for the environment. If, as Minister of Tourism of India's smallest state, the good Mr. Parulekar is looking for a model to take Goa's Tourism to the next level, he would do well to look at an equally small country like Bermuda - (size 54 sq. km with 120 km of coastline). In Bermuda, tourism's main beneficiary is the LOCAL citizen - the tourist is a short-term GUEST who must obey the laws and customs of the country, and leave a very small footprint. Tourism enables residents to maintain a high standard of living so it is in the interest of every Bermudian to ensure that the tourist is treated as a welcome guest. Bermuda is NOT a cheap destination and there are no cheap packaged flights disgorging unsavoury hordes of low income tourists with little concern for the local environment or culture. In Bermuda, the government determined from the outset that where tourism is concerned, quality beats quantity. (OK - so the Goan tax payer may not want to send him to Bermuda - for a less expensive familiarization trip, send Mr. Parulekar to Kerala. This may get him off the "Viewing Tower" kick.) Dilip DaCruz rightly points out some Tourism Industry basics (waste management, cleanliness, safety etc.) The next level could be professional certification and attractive compensation for trained tourism industry personnel, and instilling pride in Goans as HOSTS to the world's tourists, through local campaigns that demonstrate how tourism benefits local communities economically while protecting the environment and Goan culture. Al On Sat, Jun 2, 2012 at 9:12 AM, dilip dacruz <[email protected]> wrote: How can we carry tourism forward? Well, Parulekar. Try investing in waste management, sweeping streets, developing gardens, pavements, street lighting, better public transport ... Its obvious this new project is just an opportunity for a new pack of thieves to eat into a capital project. [email protected] From: [email protected] Date: Fri, 1 Jun 2012 13:43:53 +0530 Subject: [SALIGAONET] Government plans skyscraper in Baga's coastal regulation zone To: [email protected] Government plans skyscraper in Baga's coastal regulation zone TNN | Jun 1, 2012, 03.46AM IST CANDOLIM: In a bid to cash in on the popularity of Goa as a tourist destination, the Goa Tourism department has finalized a plan to put up a 35-storeyed viewing tower in the beach belt in Baga's coastal regulation zone (CRZ) on the lines of viewing towers in Malaysia, Hong Kong and Singapore. The 44-metre tower will have a restaurant on the 25th floor, besides shopping emporia, cafes and other facilities for tourists on other floors, tourism minister Dilip Parulekar confirmed to TOI. "I've been to viewing towers in Singapore and Hong Kong. Thousands visit them everyday and a lot of revenue is generated from ticket sales and other facilities. A tower like this will be good for Goa," the minister added. The proposal is yet to get the mandatory CRZ approvals and the Union defence ministry approval, but the tourism minister said "By October we hope to get all approvals. The government agencies have to give a special approval for this project to take tourism forward. We have to take tourism in Goa to the next level," Parulekar said. When pointed out that there are have been opposition to such a project in the past, Parulekar asked "If people start objecting to everything new, then how can we carry tourism forward?" "The plan has been prepared and the process to get approval started," Parulekar said. Goa coastal zone management authority (GCZMA) has inspected the site and a report is to be submitted for a final decision. "Approval has been granted in principle and authorities want to verify the position of the project on the ground," tourism director Swapnil Naik said. Tourism department has 48,000 sq m of land in its possession in Baga, of which around 10% will be utilized for the project, while the rest will be used for parking and other facilities. If all approvals are in place by October, the viewing tower should be a reality in about three years, Parulekar said. The central government has sanctioned Rs 9.5 crore for this project, Parulekar added. A viewing tower had been first planned by the previous Congress-led government, but the project didn't take off. The BJP-led government has revived the project after taking office in March this year. Apart from the viewing tower, there are also plans to create a roundabout at the Baga end of the road which now ends in a cul-de-sac. The area is also going to be beautified with a garden and fountain, apart from constructing changing rooms for the benefit of tourists. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/Government-plans-skyscraper-in-Bagas-coastal-regulation-zone/articleshow/13695758.cms -- Saligao-Net is at http://groups.google.com/group/saligao-net To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe email [email protected] -- Saligao-Net is at http://groups.google.com/group/saligao-net To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe email [email protected] -- Saligao-Net is at http://groups.google.com/group/saligao-net To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe email [email protected] -- Saligao-Net is at http://groups.google.com/group/saligao-net To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe email [email protected] -- Saligao-Net is at http://groups.google.com/group/saligao-net To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe email [email protected] -- Saligao-Net is at http://groups.google.com/group/saligao-net To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe email [email protected]
