Goa Blog

Houses collapse in Margao, trees uprooted l Anjunem, Amthane dams cross danger mark

Goa reeled under heavy rain on Sunday, even as the India Meteorological Observatory at Altinho, here, issued a heavy rainfall warning over the next 24 hours. In Salcete, rain and cyclonic winds were in full cry. Two houses collapsed in Margao, while several trees and electric poles uprooted.  The Margao-Quepem road was submerged under water at Paroda since morning, forcing authorities to divert Margao-Quepem traffic via Chandor.
Overhead power lines snapped at several places in the Taluka, the most hit being Cuncolim, Assolna and Velim, officials said. Many parts were plunged into darkness even as electricity officials and workers were deployed to work round-the-clock to restore power supply.

In Bicholim, the Anjunem dam water crossed the danger level of 93.31 while in Sattari the water from the Amthane dam also crossed the danger mark of 50.5 mts.
Three of the four gates of the Anjunem dam were opened fearing water would enter houses and shops. Torrential rains in Virdi catchment area in Maharashtra also made the situation worse, as water from the ghats entered Walwanti and Bicholim rivers.
At Amthane, water has been released by diverting its flow through Usap canal, which has created another danger on the other side.

The IMO warned of heavy showers over Goa at isolated places during the next 48 hours.
Meteorologist K V Singh said till early Sunday morning Panjim recorded 130.4 mm rainfall. “From June 1 till 5.30 pm today the total seasonal rainfall recorded at Panjim is 1805.7 mm”, he informed. Singh said it can be construed the rainfall is near normal as the State was short of only 21 cms which will be made up by the heavy spell.
Meanwhile, the Panjim Fire Brigade personnel were kept busy throughout the day as trees uprooted at Mala near the Hanuman temple, National Theatre, Santa Cruz, Tonca, Merces and a few other places. The personnel were finding it difficult to tide over the numerous emergency calls from demanding public with just one crane and one emergency vehicle at their disposal.

A chart furnished by the fire station showed that there had been a total of 51 emergency and rescue calls from Saturday 7 am to Sunday 3 pm. In the same time one animal life was lost and the personnel managed to rescue seven animals, which included six goats and one dog. Property worth Rs 5,80,000 was lost, while the fire personnel saved Rs 9,43,000 of it.  These emergency calls poured in from Panjim, Mapusa, Bicholim, Pernem, Valpoi, Old Goa, Margao, Vasco, Ponda, Curchorem, Canacona and Verna.
Additional Collector Swapnil Naik said till evening the water had not entered the Sanquelim market which is close to the river. The Water Resources Department staff and Deputy Collector Arvind Bugde were present at the spot, he stated.

-Herald, Goa Dialy