Goa Forward demands audit of Kala Academy after rainwater enters auditorium

Panaji, May 20 Goa Forward Party (GFP) on Monday demanded an audit of the renovated Kala Academy building after rainwater leaked into the main auditorium, while a program was going on.

In April, people vented ire against the government after the false ceiling of the Kala Academy building collapsed.

GFP General Secretary Durgadas Kamat, speaking to media persons, said that the lives of the artists are at risk if such incidents keep taking place.

“Since reopening, Kala Academy is always in the news because of its substandard work. Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, who also holds the PWD portfolio, should inspect the work and direct officials to take safety measures. Audit of work should be done,” Kamat said.

He said that it is the responsibility of the PWD Minister to inspect the site, as Art and Culture Minister Govind Gaude has distanced himself from the issue.

“If this issue is not resolved, then our party President and MLA Vijai Sardesai will raise it during the monsoon assembly session,” he said.

In December 2023, the mirror in the green room collapsed a month after it was reopened. Before that on July 17, 2023, the roof of the auditorium collapsed.

As a series of such incidents have taken place in the Academy, netizens along with the opposition parties have termed the incidents as ‘Goa’s Taj Mahal’ crumbling.

Designed by architect Charles Correa and started in 1970, the Kala Academy has emerged as the premier art and culture centre of the coastal state.

Kamat has also demanded that the Charles Correa Foundation should be taken on board to resolve the issue of the refurbishing of the building. "Government should keep its ego aside and work with the foundation for the restoration work," he said.

The Goa government had come under attack for allegedly carrying out renovation work at Kala Academy costing Rs 49 crore without floating a tender, which was against the CPWD manual. It took almost three years to finish the renovation work.

However, defending the state government's move to nominate a contractor for the renovation work without floating a tender, Art and Culture Minister Govind Gaude said that even Shah Jahan did not invite quotations for building the Taj Mahal.

"The Taj Mahal was built between 1632 and 1653. Do you know why it is still so beautiful and everlasting? Because Shah Jahan never invited quotations to build it. That is why the Taj Mahal is intact even after 400 years,” Gaude had said.

According to the opposition parties, the Kala Academy was built 50 years ago for Rs 4 crore, and now more than Rs 49 crore has been spent to repair it.

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