The historic Chapel of Madicotto in Cuncolim is crying for protection. Rampant development and encroachments has meant the spot where the bodies of slain Jesuit priests were found may be lost, writes Armstrong Vaz

Our village tinto in Cuncolim is walking tall. Every ten years our tinto has the habit of abandoning its old home to a new abode. My village tinto does not like to stay dormant. It has to grow. Yes, everybody around him is growing bigger, higher and fatter in shape - both horizontally and vertically. "Then, why not me?" asks my Tinto to me.

Do you remember the last time I grew? It was some twenty years back. I was then just a plain old village Tinto of the old golden days of the Portuguese era. Your city fathers (councilors) thought it fit to burden me with a plus one structure. Sadly, your city fathers did not make any feasibility study before extending my height. The new arms and legs which they extended on the top of my head were sheer waste of money, as it remained occupied. But they said - "who cares, whose father what goes?" Making a translation of the Konkani saying.

And now I am on my last leg of my life journey, no one knows what they will do with me after the new structure, coming up a few meters away in the filled up paddy fields close to the historic Madicotto Chapel. 

Now, that chapel houses a well, wherein the bodies of the Jesuits priests hailing from Portugal, Spain and other European countries were dumped by the Hindu residents of Cuncolim in 1583. The Jesuits priests were on a mission to convert the local residents to Christianity.

Crores of rupees have been spent on the market complex and it will not cost much for the authorities to install a sign board at the Chapel and an inscription giving the details and significance of the chapel. Some of the relatives of the slain priests who keep coming on the lookout for the place where their ancestors were killed, have difficulty in finding the place.

Two months from now all my fisher folk children would abandon me moving to the swanky fish and vegetable market. The chicken and mutton vendors will also follow suit. The new market will be spacious, clean and have some modern facilities. But who has seen the future? Only time will tell.

My neigbour and a village son Cruz Gomes tried many ways to stop the conversion of the paddy field into a market complex. He went up to the Bombay High Court with his case, that giving permission to the project will mean flooding in Cuncolim. But the architect appointed by the Court shot down the fears.

The monsoon fury has not been so strong this year. But last month, when floods struck on a massive scale in Canacona, Cuncolim experienced flooding on the highway at Godekar flour mill. That is the tip of the iceberg. A massive danger awaits the Cuncolkars if floods come roaring and sea-levels rise due to climate change.

The Madicotto Chapel has been maintained and kept in shape thanks to the Madicotto people. But a couple of crosses, where the bodies of the slain Jesuits priests were found dumped, are begging for attention. The Committee of Martyrs Chapel which have been entrusted with the task of maintaining the monuments have allowed  encroachers to build structures close to the cross.

The Portuguese inscriptions on the cross are hardly visible to the naked eye and you need magnifying glasses to read it. It will be a befitting thing to install English language translation at the site for the younger generation to be made aware of the historic significance of the two crosses, besides serving as an added tourist attention.

But the Cuncolim Municipal Council has been guilty of allowing the gate of the Cuncolim Council library building to touch the martyrs Chapel. So much for the social consciousness of the elected councillors.

If the village Tinto has got a new place and new coat of paint, the historic cross at Cuncolim certainly demands restoration work and protection by the government and a little bit of effort from the local residents.