Goa: All the heritage structures of Margao have been standing in the historic town holding a profound history of the changes Margao has seen till date. From Camara, to the class A civic body, the Camara and the Communidade building has seen the town rise and these structures hold stories within which not many know about.
The Margao Municipal Council has been time and again requested to protect and get the old dilapidated Camara in Old Market Margao to life so that it is conserved for future generations. The President of the Shadow Council Margao Savio Coutinho with historian Prajal Sakhardande inspected the building of the Old Camara in Old Market, Margao and have expressed displeasure over the way the antique structure has been ignored for years. The MMC had in an earlier list of endangered buildings listed the Camara and may have gone for demolition. The historians and Madgaonkars have registered their protest against demolishing the building and have demanded steps to get it back to its original glory.
The Engineering Section of the MMC had surveyed and identified 17 buildings or structures in Margao which are in a bad state and need quick action. The Collector and Chairperson, South Goa District Disaster Management Authority had through a letter been informed that the council had conducted a survey to identify the dangerous and unsafe buildings by visual inspections. Among these buildings were the T. B. Cunha School Building, Popular Primary School building, Old Camara Municipal building at Old Market, Cruz Mansion Near Communidade building Margao, Sukdo building Opposite Cine Lata, Golden Photo Studio building, Sanskar Co-operative Housing building, Galaxy Apartment near Cine Vishant, Gracias Furtado Building at Khareband, Predio Cardozo Building at Khareband, Villa Coutinho Building at Khareband, Residential house of Mrs. Eugenia Colaco and others opposite Holy Spirit Church, House of Pedro Avelino Luis behind New Era School, Malbhat, Margao, New Era school building at Malbhat, Lotlikar building near railway gate, Parishram Raikar and Ladu Raikar building near Chinchal railway gate and Tilve building on Erasmo Carvalho Street, Margao.
The Camara making it to the list of these 17 buildings has captured attention of the history lovers and a team of five including Savio Coutinho and Prajal Sakhardande had met the Chief Officer against the backdrop of the report and study of the MMC.
Presently the Camara, the very old and half fallen structure in Old Market in Margao is a building which came to be in the early 17th century, and has borne witness to the ups and downs and the progress of Margao town. The entire administrative system of South Goa was controlled through this building and it is considered as a time capsule of several good and bad incidents.
“We were worried and concerned that the Camra is being slated for demolition and we object and protest this as the building is as old as 1778 and also has its own historic incidents. One of the incident was on 21st September 1890 where 23 Goans who protested against the rigging of elections in favour of a Portuguese candidate were shot dead. This memory is still alive amongst the older generations and we feel it needs to be preserved for posterity so that the future has stories of the past to tell the world,” told Prajal Sakhardande.
“The Camara was functional till 1905 and later was shifted to where it is now. The building has a lot of history and has to be conserved,” demanded Prajal. “It can be conserved with all the technology of the 21st Century and it is a beautiful building with beautiful architectural style. It is a beautiful façade and it has to be conserved,” said Prajal.
“The land acquisition is taking time and to make it fast we have met the DMA Elvis Gomes and requested him to make the process faster,” he added.
Savio Coutinho while speaking about the Camara said “In 2010 when I was a chairperson Prajal wrote to me highlighting the history of the Camara and I was impressed with the study and called over Prajal to have a word. We decided to conserve this building and in the same year took a resolution to conserve the building by restoring it,” Savio told.
“After we wrote for the conservation the process has been very slow and we have been continuously following up the case. There is a need for the MMC and Government to take care of the structure and start conservation of the structure as every rain is wreaking havoc on the buiding,” said Savio.
The Council in a meeting had decided to take up the revival and restoration of the Old Camara. But the ambitious plan never took off due to various reasons.
Lots of literature has been already published in the news dailies of Goa highlighting the plight of the old structures like the Camara and also the New Era School building which has now been listed as a dangerous building in the town. The New Era School has been in very bad condition amongst all the schools in Margao. The school operates in the dated A.J Almeida building for more than 70 years. Four class rooms and more than 300 students sit for tuition in rooms with the roof of the school continuously dripping and large chunks of cement of the roof falling during school hours regularly. The condition of the school in the past four years has gone from bad to worse. The school has been asking for land and building for over five years now and after the MMC has now declared it dangerous it will be interesting to see where the school is shifted.
The school has made an application for land in the Housing Board but the land is blocked due to litigation. They then applied for yet another property in Aquem but the work has stopped due to lack of funds. The school management has been paying 3400 rupees rent for the premises which has now been declared as a dangerous structure.
The Communidade building near Lohia Maidan is in dire straits now. There is no record of repair work being carried out in recent times. A leaking roof, broken rafters, furniture dumped all over the main areas and bad condition of working furniture has given it a bad name. This building has been declared unsafe and for a good reason.
Problems of occupants unwilling to vacate the building for repairs, and a documentation tangle has left the building in a bad state. The Margao Municipal Council building was renovated by the council but the Communidade building which is just opposite the council and is equally old and important missed the bus.

Team TNV