As heritage lanes choke with tourists, Fontainhas sets eyes on CCP elections

Panaji: Resentment is growing among residents of Fontainhas and Sao Tome, where locals say unregulated tourism is rapidly eroding the character of their neighbourhood and their quality of daily life.

Panaji’s Latin Quarter is a living museum of Portuguese heritage, famous for its colonial houses painted in vibrant hues of yellow, blue, and red.


Residents of the two wards endure taxis blocking narrow heritage lanes, people trespassing into private homes for photos, and drunken ruckus late into the night.

With corporation elections approaching, the issue has now moved beyond a nuisance to become a serious civic concern.

“At any given hour, there are 100-150 tourists in the area. This touches nearly 1,000 people during peak tourist season. People behave as if the entire neighbourhood is their backdrop and feel entitled to have a photoshoot. But families live here. These are our homes, not photo props,” said a senior citizen.

Though the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) deployed wardens in a few of the busiest lanes, residents allege crowd management is largely absent.

“One cannot stop tourism. What we need is regulation, not token presence,” said Aires Pinto Furtado, a lawyer. “The tourists must park their vehicles across the creek and walk to the Latin Quarter to avoid congesting the residential area.”

According to PhD scholar Maria de Lourdes Bravo da Costa, who wrote extensively on Goan life in the early to mid-20th century, Panaji once possessed several architecturally significant urban spaces that were since altered or replaced by modern structures.

“We should build on our heritage and promote cultural tourism,” she told TOI. “For a neighbourhood once celebrated for its quiet charm, the question is simple—can the city’s new leadership protect its historic soul before it is overwhelmed by the very tourism it promotes?”

Architect, urban planner, and member of the council of architecture (Goa), Delhi, Manguesh Prabhugaonker, said the increasingly complex land-use patterns and a rapidly-growing floating population pose a major challenge for urban planning. He pointed out that Panaji’s historic layout, including its traditional waterfronts and grid-iron planning pattern, was not designed to handle the current volume of visitors and commercial activity.

According to Prabhugaonker, Panaji urgently requires a review of its development strategy. He suggests improved public transport systems, parking management, infrastructure upgrades, and policies that balance the needs of residents with the demands of tourism and commercial activity.

As civic elections approach, locals are watching to see whether candidates promise stronger crowd control, stricter enforcement, and a clear plan to protect heritage residential areas.