After renovation, Corjuem Fort to see heritage tourism

Panaji: The Corjuem Fort will be promoted to hold heritage events, including an annual Corjuem festival, said Aldona MLA Carlos Alvares Ferreira.
“Goa is not only about sand and sea, there is beauty around the state as well. We talk about heritage tourism that includes forts and old houses, and Goa’s ancient history. That is the Goa which is required to be portrayed which was thus far kept in the background,” he said.
“We want to have an annual Corjuem festival at the fort. It will allow our locals to come here and a chance for stage artistes to perform. We want to project our rural areas and boost the local economy so that we can generate some revenue that is needed. People will come in large numbers, they want to see such things,” he added.
He was speaking during an inspection of the fort along with minister for archives and archaeology Subhash Phal Dessai and other department officials.
“The MLA has suggested a regular calendar event to inform people that there is a nice place here. We will explore the plan of a self-sustaining model so that maintenance can be taken care of,” Phal Dessai said.
He further said that owners of property surrounding the fort will be compensated for parting with the land. “A lot of development was pending due to want of land surrounding the fort. We have got possession of the land for taking future works. We will see how best to compensate them,” he said.
The fort’s renovation works are expected to be completed in eight months. For the beautification works around the fort, Adv Ferreira obtained the NOC from his cousin Dr Jaime Rangel. The estimate for the beautification is currently being prepared.
TOI had reported in January that the department of archaeology is planning to construct a circumambulatory pathway around the fort so that visitors can circle around the structure and take in the external views such as the bastion and other features of the fort.