MARGAO
Finally, the heritage Margao Civil and Criminal Court building at the Old market has got a fresh lease of life.
The court building was in the news for the wrong reasons last monsoon after rampant water seepage inside the premises and the collapse of a false ceiling triggered uproar amongst the legal fraternity, bringing the heritage structure under the scanner of the High Court.
After months of repairs and renovation, the court building has finally got the much-needed facelift, Executive Engineer, PWD, Buildings Elvis D’Souza has written a letter to the court to take possession of the building and to start regular court proceedings in the renovated building.
After the High Court’s intervention and the make-shift arrangements put in place by the South Goa Principal Sessions Judge, Irshad Agha, the Civic and Criminal Courts functioning from the old building were shifted to the District and Sessions Court building pending the repairs and renovation.
With the PWD completing the repair and renovation work of the building, the stage is finally set for the return of the courts to the heritage building. PWD Executive Engineer, Elvis D’Souza confirmed to The Goan that the repair and renovation work of the Margao Civil and Criminal Court building is complete in all respects.
“My office has written a letter to the court informing that the repair work is complete and the courts can resume functioning from the old building,” he said, adding that it’s now for the court to take a call on the timing of shifting.
The PWD was given a deadline by the High Court last year to complete the repair work by February 2023. However, the PWD had sought an extension till March 21, which ended a day ago. The PWD engineer, however, said the repair work was completed well before the expiry of the deadline last week.
The senior PWD Engineer informed that the work executed on the building includes replacing the roof tiles, damaged beams and rafters, besides internal repairs and painting. “We have not painted the outer walls of the building for the simple reason that the building received a fresh coat of paint around two years ago,” he said.
The Margao Civil and Criminal Court building hit the headlines last monsoon, for the wrong reasons, due to water seepage inside the premises. That’s not all. The authorities had come for criticism over the ill-conceived decision to cover the building roof with tarpaulin sheets to prevent rain seepage. It’s another matter that the tarpaulin sheets were blown away in the first rains, which later forced the legal fraternity to raise a banner of protest.
The protest had evoked instant attention from the government as Law Minister Nilesh Cabral, who also holds the PWD portfolio, personally came to meet the striking lawyers and hand out an assurance to bring about a turnaround in the situation.
The building later came under the scanner of the High Court, wherein it expressed displeasure over the state of the building, and issued directions for the repair of the building in a time-bound manner.
