From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Panaji

Panaji, Jul 29: The Goa Church is wary about the historically important monuments at Old Goa which could be de-listed from UNESCO’s world heritage site, following the state government’s plans to locate a garbage dumping and treatment project around its precincts.
 
“If the site is used for garbage dumping then there is every possibility of Old Goa churches and other monuments losing its accreditation from UNESCO,” Fr Maverick Fernandes, executive secretary, council for social justice and peace, said.
 
The Goa government has already initiated a process to acquire 1.7 lakh square metres land at Old Goa which will take care of the waste generated in the capital city of Panaji. Incidently, the site is just one and half kilometers away from Old Goa, which houses a cluster of historically important Churches and a Hindu mutt.
 
Realising that the state government is keen on acquiring the land for the garbage site, the Church has begun an exercise to galvanise all its parishes and even members of legislative assembly (MLAs) in support of their agitation.
 
“We are aware that the process of acquiring the said area has reached an advanced stage but would you like your government to be known in history as being responsible for the Renowned Sites losing their world Heritage Status?,” the Church has questioned in their letter written to the MLAs on Monday.
 
Fr Fernandes said that there is no single tourist who visits Goa leaves the state without visiting Old Goa, which besides having historically important monuments also houses relics of St Fransic Xavier. “These monuments are our valued treasure.. We cannot lose them to a garbage plant,” he said.
 
“Such an absurd project will tag Goa as `the state which is not able to protect their heritage’,” he said.
 
Spreading the word across the state to pull in support, the Church has also written to all its 347 churches, chapels and educational institutions asking them to make people aware of the hazards of the garbage dumping.
 
“Treat this as a serious issue,” the letter written to all the Parishes on Sunday reads. The council for social justice and peace, a church’s wing, has appealed all the parishes to get the volunteers to mobile people to participate in a public meeting to demand withdrawal of this health hazardous plan.
 
The city of corporation of Panaji which is engineering the plant has said that they are ready to clarify all the doubts on the project.
 
“If anyone has any doubt over the project, we can convince them,” CCP commissioner Sanjith Rodrigues said.