Greens seek place for Goa’s heritage assets in coastal plan

PANAJI: Goa’s heritage monuments and archaeological sites ranging from the megalithic cave and window pane oyster breeding site at Chicalim to the ancient temples and Old Goa’s popular churches have been listed by activists for inclusion in the Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP).
The state’s chequered history has left behind multi-layered sites in several villages and former capital cities — caves, tunnels, monuments and ruins.
“The state has prepared environment management plans for sea turtles, mangroves, sand dunes, but there is no plan for management of built heritage,” Goa Heritage Action Group (GHAG) and the Charles Correia foundation stated in a submission to the government.
Goa has a total of 422 legally notified built heritage sites, including 75 protected by state and central governments.
“But only 13 sites have found mention in the report, and just 12 are marked on the maps,” the heritage groups stated.
A few sites are of historic importance, as they shaped the history of the region.
“For example, the 500-year-old Rachol church. There is also an ancient tunnel and other ancient remains, which make this village an archaeological site,” Abhjijit Prabhudesai, a social activist stated.
Furnishing details about other sites at the Goa Coastal Zone Management (GCZMA) hearing on Thursday, he said that sites at Quelossim, Carambolim and other places in the CRZ area need to be demarcated after a survey.
‘Of Old Goa’s 21 protected structures, only two are shown’
In Old Goa, out of 14 centrally-protected monuments and seven stateprotected ones, only two —St Cajetan's Church and the Arch of the Viceroy — are marked. “This demarcation of protected monuments and sites as part of CRZ-1 is under CZMP guidelines,” Glean Cabral, an Old Goa-based activist, said.
“Further, at least four more need to be shown, including Largo of St Cajetan, Church of St Peter, Bainguinim and Casa de Polvora, Panelim,” Cabral said.
Chicalim, a village awaiting a ‘heritage village’ tag, boasts of a multi-layered history with natural and man-made assets. “There are many historical and archaeological sites in Chicalim, Dabolim and St Jacinto Island. The 16th century ruins of St Bartholomew Church, khazan land with unique irrigation systems that are thousands of years old and ancient caves at Chicalim and Dabolim,” Cyril Fernandes, a social activist, stated.
A few houses, an underground tunnel and fort in Sao Jacinto Island and other sites have been included in the Chicalim list.
The Chicalim bay is well known as being one of the few window pane oyster breeding sites on the western coast.
“National Institute of Oceanography, Dona Paula has declared this as a natural breeding site for the endangered oysters, Placuna placenta, locally known as ‘mendeos’, a Schedule IV species protected under the EPA, 1986,” Fernandes said.