Flying over Margao

Let's take a look at Margao from the sky. It could do with some divine intervention, as Panjim seems to get most of the attention and the makeovers. Here's an overview of Margao city. (Please click on the images for a larger view.) The oval shaped Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium can be seen at the top-centre. At the bottom of the image, just above the pin that says 'Margao-Goa-India', you can recognise the tiny outline of Margao Municipal Garden. The Abade Faria road goes north to the Colva Circle. Borda to the north, Aquem to the east, and the Monte hill in the middle area. They say the name Margao is derived from 'mathagram' owing to the existence of a 'math'- a Hindu seminary - in the hoary past. The Monte hill provides green lungs for the city that has grown around its base. 'Monte' in Portuguese means 'hill'. So Monte Hill means Hill Hill, which sounds quite silly. Perhaps we chould call Margao by a nickname - Montegram - the city around the hill!

The oval shaped stadium below is easily recognizable. I have a small poem on it here. The stadium was the scene of action for the ISL football matches recently. The semifinal with FC Goa versus Atletico de Kolkata ended in a penalty shootout and Goa lost. Crumbs!

Just next door is the Ravindra Bhavan, Margao's cultural center. The stadium/sports complex's swimming pool can also be seen. Some stuff on this hotspot for tiatr and other song and dance is here.

The image below is in the same area, it is of the SGPDA Market. Fish and vegetable in plenty, with orderly stalls et al. Waste disposal is always a problem, though the resident dogs and cats try to help. Perhaps we should recruit pigs too. 

The mammoth building project below lies on the road to Panjim, at the outskirts of Margao. It is the ongoing construction of the district hospital. Stuck for some years now, it awaits resurrection.

The building below is equally large in size, but mercifully got completed. It is the new Collectorate building of South Goa, named after the much loved activist Mathany Saldanha. It's architectural style has a kitschy colonial Neo-Roman look to it, with a rotunda at its apex. Criticised for being heavy on maintenance costs, its interiors are cavernous and aloof. It cost to build it and it costs to get work done in there too, as usual.    

We zip down and over the Margao Railway Station, designed by Charles Correa. The experimental Skybus trial track of the Konkan Railway can be seen. It will soon be demolished. Crores of rupees down the drain. It could have been adaptively reused, as an amusement track, or even simply to dry a lot of laundry. 

All images courtesy Google Earth.