Govt plans to restore heritage houses, 122 sites on list so far

Panaji: State govt intends to restore private, dilapidated houses built during the Portuguese era in a revenue share model under the Goa Heritage Policy.Archives and archaeology minister Subhash Phal Dessai on Friday said that owners will be offered interest-free loans and encouraged to promote tourism at these sites while retaining ownership of their properties.

So far, govt has identified 122 heritage houses across the state, including non-Portuguese properties.“Many houses are on the verge of collapse but as govt, we have no right to touch such houses. We have found this way of helping protect, conserve, and restore these houses and incentivising them,” he said. “One of the objectives of the Goa heritage policy is to integrate heritage into planning, tourism, education, and climate resilience.

Govt will not stake its ownership on any of the structures. We will only invite their participation in a revenue sharing model.

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he minister said that efforts will be made to preserve all the Portuguese-era artefacts, and history trails will be designed for students to explore. A survey will be conducted to identify all the undocumented antiquities in Goa, and a detailed paper will be written on these antiquities.“Protection of memorials of the freedom struggle will also be taken under the scheme. The Goa State Memorial Maintenance Authority will be established under this. There will also be scope to preserve food items such as feni and chilli powder, among others under this scheme,” he said.The policy includes a tentative list of 222 heritage sites, including 122 heritage houses, 46 folk forms, and 61 traditional occupations, besides the 57 protected sites Jalready under the archaeology department.“The Goa heritage policy will be rolled out in a phased manner. The policy will stand for five years, and over time it will be analysed and reviewed to be modified in the future,” the minister said.