Fontainhas – a unique living heritage

25/01/2026 0 Comments read Environment & Development, Travel

By Neena Bhandari

Fontainhas, the Latin Quarter of Panaji (Goa), is a unique living heritage. During my sojourn in this charming neighbourhood, I meet members of ancestral Goan families, who take pride in preserving their heritage and care for their traditional homes. Through the voices of its residents, beginning with Jack Sukhija, Partner at WelcomHeritage Panjim Inn, I trace the past of this distinctive cultural enclave, widely regarded as unlike any other in India, and examine what is needed to conserve it for the future.

Jack Sukhija, partner at WelcomHeritage Panjim Inn in Fontainhas, recalls growing up in Goa in a tight knit community with plenty of green open spaces, and uncrowded streets and beaches.

“It was an idyllic childhood. Everyone knew each other, which sometimes had its downsides”, quips Sukhija, who hails from a business family. At 19, he stepped up to help his father put one of the small businesses, that had gone bankrupt, back on the rails. This encouraged him to join the family in running the heritage hotel business.

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Empowering communities to become groundwater-wise

24/10/2024 1 Comment read Climate Change, Environment & Development, Gender, Health & Science

From Left: Mamta, Varda Devi, Tulsi Devi Bhatt, Rukmini Devi, Hira Bai, Chanda Choubisa in Hinta Village in Udaipur District of Rajasthan (India). Photo Credit: ©Neena Bhandari

The writer received a Special Mention for the article at the 2025 Crawford Fund Food Security Journalism Award

By Neena Bhandari

Hinta and Dharta Villages (Rajasthan), 24.10.2024 (Loss and Damage Research Observatory): Tulsi Devi Bhatt, draped in an embellished purple sari and a full sleeve red kurti (top), navigates her way through the wheat fields in Hinta village in the western Indian state of Rajasthan’s Udaipur district. She is on her weekly mission to measure water level in the dug wells – the quantity of water is critical for the food security and livelihood of her community.

Hinta is part of the two multi-village, hard rock aquifer watersheds – the 6400-hectare Dharta watershed in Rajasthan and 5000-hectare Meghraj watershed in Gujarat, where MARVI – Managing Aquifer Recharge and Sustaining Groundwater Use through Village-level Intervention – project has been instrumental in enhancing groundwater recharge and availability.

Spearheaded by the Western Sydney University in Australia, working in collaboration with seven other partners in India and elsewhere, the MARVI project is aimed at empowering farmers like Tulsi with the knowledge and tools necessary for sustainable and equitable groundwater management in their villages.

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Goa’s green design warriors Part I – Dean D’Cruz

02/08/2024 0 Comments read Environment & Development, Travel

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 02.08.2024 (The Hindu): In a burgeoning real estate market, three eminent architects – Dean D’Cruz, Gerard da Cunha and Arminio Ribeiro – go down memory lane and reflect on how Goa has transformed from a tranquil haven into a bustling hub as tourism and construction take centerstage. They underscore the need for environmentally and socially responsible policies and planning to foster sustainable communities, where cultural heritage and modern development can coexist in harmony.

Dean D’Cruz, co-founder and principal architect of Mozaic, recalls waking up to a rooster crowing and the aroma of curries simmering on woodfired stoves in his uncle’s home, where the extended family lived together. It was a cohesive existence that permeated their village, Saligao, in Goa.

He has meticulously restored his 105-year-old Portuguese-style villa, nestled in a quiet green corner of Saligao, where I meet him on a rainy evening. The home has been progressively restored from about 50 years ago. A staircase leads to the balcao (a porch) that overlooks a courtyard garden. The main verandah features columns crafted from single pieces of Burma teak and the flooring is adorned with Spanish-Portuguese tiles. Inside, two spacious living rooms with original oyster shell windows with pointed arches, flank the entrance. The use of shells is now banned, instead frosted glass can be used in the pointed arches.

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