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Indian Express
10-07-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Residents recall legacy of Junta House, once Goa's tallest building that is now ‘unsafe'
'It was the tallest building in Goa when it came up and perhaps only the second building with a lift,' recounts historian Prajal Sakhardande. 'We used to go there just to see the lift.' 'Junta House' — Goa's tallest building when it was built six decades ago – and one of its earliest skyscrapers, has been declared 'unsafe' and is set to be vacated. In an order, Ankit Yadav, collector and chairperson of the district disaster management authority of North Goa, said last week that based on a recent audit report, the building is 'structurally vulnerable' and poses a 'safety hazard' due to considerable deterioration and retrofitting is not economically feasible. The collector has ordered a complete eviction of the entire Junta House building within a month. The order marks an end of an era for the city. The building, which has a mural of an elderly woman — 'Aunty Rosy' in a red dress holding a grocery bag in one hand and a coconut in the other — on its façade, evokes memories from when it was first constructed. For more than two decades, Dr Mahendra Tamba lived and worked in a building opposite the Junta House. 'Till 1984, Madan Lal Sadan and Junta House were the only skyscrapers in Panaji. The Regional Transport Office (RTO) used to be on the first floor. I remember they used to take the test for learner's licence on the road between Akbar Ali Building and Junta House.' 'It is a landmark building and has heritage value. It must be preserved,' said Sakhardande. Located in the capital Panaji along the junction of 18th June Road and Swami Vivekanand Road, the six-storey building was constructed sometime in early 1960s around the time Goa was liberated from Portuguese rule. The government building was inaugurated by the then L-G of Goa, Daman and Diu KR Damle on August 15, 1966 during the tenure of Goa's first chief minister Dayanand Bandodkar. The iconic edifice symbolized a transformative and modern vision of Goa post liberation. Historian Dr Maria de Lourdes Bravo da Costa said that the land where the building came up belonged to the 'Junta Do Comercio Externo' (Board of External Trade), an autonomous department of the government during the Portuguese times which used to grant import licenses. 'They had their godown there, which still exists beside the building. So, when it was constructed, the building took the same Portuguese name 'Junta'.' A government official, requesting anonymity, said, 'There was a tussle too with some wanting the building to be named 'Janata' House, which means 'building of the people'.' Among the government departments that operated from the building include the Department of Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, Directorate of Official Language, Directorate of Planning, Statistics and Evaluation, Office of Commissioner Labour and Employment, Office of Civil Registrar-cum-Sub-Registrars, Goa Forest Development Corporate Limited and Goa State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission. With the Directorate of Transport and Labour and Employment Department offices operating from the building, its central location within the city lent itself to be the site of several strikes and agitations. Trade union leaders would often camp near the building's staircase and sit on a hunger strike. In December 1978, student unions, who were demanding a 50 percent concession in bus fare, gheraoed the Regional Transport Office (RTO) in the Junta House building, in what came to be known as the 'half ticket' agitation, said Sakhardande. 'The agitation, in a way, began from the building.' The sixth floor of the premises, which housed the Swami Vivekanand Society, was the most famous. The state-of-the-art Swami Vivekanand Hall was the epicentre of all cultural events — theatre, Marathi and Konkani dramas, classical music, dance classes and lectures. 'Kala Academy had not come up at the time… it was the only hall where people could go to see theatre, music and dance performances,' Dr Tamba said. Prakash Kamat, a member of the State Advisory Board on Disability, said, 'My wedding reception took place on January 26, 1993 at Swami Vivekanand Hall in Junta House.' 'Many government offices in the building involved a public interface. People would go there to get registration certificates of births, deaths and marriages or pay a traffic challan.' A public astronomical observatory, operating from the building's terrace, was set up by the Association of Friends of Astronomy (AFA) in 1990 and is supported and funded by the Goa government. Satish Nayak, President Public Astronomical Observatory and AFA said the association was founded by renowned historian and bureaucrat Percival Noronha in 1982. Architect Analia da Costa, who wrote a dissertation titled 'Expressing Identity Through Architecture in Post 1961 Goa' said the design of the Junta House is 'modernist'. 'The façade had horizontal and vertical bands, horizontal balconies and a concrete structure. It had a flat roof and was on a much bigger scale, which was uncommon for Goan structures at the time. The elements in the building seemed heavily influenced and similar to the architecture of other buildings being constructed by the Central Public Works Department at the time, which was modernist and of a forward-looking India.'
India Today
08-05-2025
- Politics
- India Today
As heritage violations ruin Old Goa, why the ball is in Centre's court
It is a historic landmark and a must-visit on the itinerary of tourists or pilgrims to Goa. However, Old Goa, the former capital of Portuguese India and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is increasingly under threat due to rampant construction and enthusiasts have now sought the intervention of the Union ministry of culture, expressing apprehension over the 'the loss of history and heritage of Old Goa'. The forum 'Citizens for Democracy Goa', which includes former bureaucrat and Congress leader Elvis Gomes; Prajal Sakhardande, a professor of history; and entrepreneur Yogesh Nagvenkar, has written to Vivek Aggarwal, secretary, Union ministry of culture, drawing attention to 'the bizarre situation arising out of the acts of omission by the very state authorities entrusted with responsibilities to preserve the priceless heritage in Goa'.advertisementIn 1986, UNESCO granted world Heritage Site status to the churches and convents of Old Goa. This includes the Basilica of Bom Jesus, which contains the tomb of the Jesuist missionary St Francis Xavier. Old Goa is located 10 km east of state capital Panaji. It was developed from the previous village of Ella after being taken over by the Portuguese, who designated the city as the capital for their occupied territories in Asia in Old Goa was also known as Goa Dourada (Golden Goa), Rome of the East, and Pearl of the East, since the 16th century, and this has been documented in the accounts of numerous foreign travelers, including Ludovico di Varthema, Domingo Paes and Jan Huygen van Linschoten. The city has been described as a port city on the banks of the Mandovi river, which was a hub of horse trade. This brought in substantial revenue for the Adilshahi Sultans of Bijapur in Karnataka, who ruled Goa from 1498. This drew the Portuguese general Afonso De Albuquerque to Goa in 1510. The precinct also has a rich pre-Portuguese history and heritage. In the 11th century, the Kadamba King Jayakeshi-I connected his capital Govapuri-Gopakapattan on the banks of the Zuari to the port of Old Goa through a 9-km-long road known as the 'Rajbid' or the surviving churches and convents of Old Goa are the Chapel of St Catherine (1510), which was raised to the status of cathedral by Pope Paul III in 1534; the Church and Convent of St Francis of Assisi (1517), rebuilt in 1521 and 1661; the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary (1549), S Cathedral (1652), the Church of St Augustine (1602), a complex that fell into ruins, with only one-third of the bell tower standing; the Basilica of Bom Jesus (1605), with its prominent Classical orders; and the Chapel of St Cajetan (1661), modelled on the original design of St Peter's Basilica in monuments exerted great influence in the 16th to 18th centuries by spreading forms of Manueline, Mannerist and Baroque art and architecture throughout the countries of Asia where Catholic missions were established. In doing so, they eminently illustrated the work of missionaries in Asia, says the UNESCO their letter to Aggarwal, the group 'Citizens for Democracy Goa' red-flagged 'unstopped constructions near the heritage monuments in violation of heritage laws'. The letter cited a huge bungalow by a Mumbai-based politician within the very precinct of the World Heritage Site, in close proximity to the office of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), as the 'most egregious and visible example of this disregard'advertisement'Despite numerous protests by heritage activists, this illegal construction continues to stand as a defiant challenge to all agencies mandated to preserve and protect this significant World Heritage Site. This constitutes a major heritage violation occurring under the direct purview of the ASI. Repeated appeals have regrettably failed to halt this egregious violation. This bungalow, situated next to the World Heritage Church of St. Cajetan, within the vicinity of the Adilshahi Palace gate and the Kadamba-era temple gate, and abutting the Viceroy's Arch, should have been demolished, but for the ASI's laxity and the local government's apathy,' the letter pointed group stated that by the ASI's own admission, there were over 70 structures that are reportedly illegal but still standing. 'Proliferation of diverse constructions is putting pressure of higher density of human settlement in Old Goa, resulting in issues such as rampant filling of low-lying areas, hill cutting, wanton littering, unregulated solid waste generation and its ineffective management,' the letter said. The proposed garbage treatment plant on the Kadamba plateau of Old Goa to treat the waste generated by Panaji has also faced strong opposition from the local letter has recommended a multi-pronged approach to protect the site. This includes coordination between Goa's Department of Archaeology and the ASI to formulate a protection policy. 'The Centre should impress upon the state government to prioritise the swift formulation and implementation of a comprehensive Heritage Masterplan specifically for Old Goa. This plan should clearly demarcate all protected zones, including an adequately sized buffer zone that respects the site's heritage and visual integrity. The masterplan must include specific and detailed guidelines for the preservation and sensitive restoration of all pre-Portuguese historical sites, integrating principles of sustainable tourism to ensure that tourism activities support, rather than detract, from the site's conservation,' it urged.A thorough survey of all existing structures located within the World Heritage Site and its designated buffer zone must be conducted to definitively identify all illegal constructions and encroachments, the letter said.'The time for decisive action is now, before the irreversible impacts of unchecked development further erode the 'Outstanding Universal Value' that makes Old Goa a treasure for all humanity,' the group to India Today Magazine advertisement
