Says Paroda temple site “defaced” during beautification works
Panaji: The High Court of Bombay at Goa on Tuesday sought a statewide report on Goa’s protected monuments after observing that the state-protected Shri Chandreshwar Bhoothnath Devasthan, located at Paroda, was “totally defaced” during beautification works.
Questioning the 2018 No Objection Certificate (NOC) granted by the Directorate of Archives and Archaeology to Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC) for construction of a retaining wall at the site, the court directed the Directorate to submit within two weeks a list of all state-protected ancient monuments, their boundary plans and the details of permissions granted to third-party agencies for beautification or development works.
Goa presently has 57 state-protected monuments under the Goa Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act. The Goa government expanded the list by approving six new sites, bringing the total count up from the previous 51 recognised sites. The government officially added the six new sites to the state list in January 2025.
The High Court Division Bench comprising Justices Valmiki Menezes and Amit S Jamsandekar said, “On considering the allegations in the petition and the various affidavits, the main question that arises is the circumstances under which the Directorate of Archives and Archaeology – Respondent No. 4, has granted NOC dated 27.09.2018 to the Goa Tourism Department Corporation to construct a retaining wall for an ancient monument declared as one under the Goa Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1978.”
“What is left presently at site is seen in photographs at pages 115 to 134 which is a site of an ancient monument which has been totally defaced.”
The High Court also said, “Under these circumstances, we are of the opinion that a similar course of action may have been taken by the Department of Archives and Archaeology in relation to several other ancient monuments in its custody under the said Act.”
“For that purpose, we deem it appropriate that the Director of the Department of Archives and Archaeology should place on record within two weeks from today an entire list of all ancient monuments within the state of Goa, declared to be so under the Goa Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1978, along with the plans of the perimeters of each of such site in its custody,” the High Court said.
The High Court said that the affidavit shall also state whether any of the remaining archaeological sites under the care of the Department of Archaeology have been afforded NOCs or approval granted by the department for beautification or any other work which has been outsourced to other agencies.
The public interest litigation that was filed alleged that construction of a retaining wall at Shri Chandreshwar Bhoothnath Devasthan involved hill-cutting and blasting, which caused cracks threatening the temple’s structural safety. The petitioner also stated that the temple is a notified ancient monument under the Goa Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1978.
