NEW DELHI, Jan. 15 -- Heta Pandit has seen Goa's character change drastically since she made it her home in 1995.
The empty roads, clear blue skies, clean beaches and slow pace of life-the reasons she moved from Mumbai-have been replaced by traffic jams, high-rises, malls and tourism waste. "And lots and lots of people," says the 66-year-old resident of north Goa's Saligao who chairs the Goa Heritage Action Group, a non-profit dedicated to preserving the built and natural heritage of the country's smallest state.
The constant construction work across Goa is replacing freshwater springs and forest cover, Pandit says. "Goan village communities are shrinking into their shells; they are unable to cope with the onslaught." The onslaught she's ...