TEAM HERALD
Overnight rains and strong winds disrupted normal life in Rachol village, leaving a number of trees uprooted and disruption in the power supply.
The village panchayat, however, is bracing up for the worst with the road side drains not yet de-silted for want of timely sanction from the panchayat authorities, including the office of Salcete Block Development Office.
Sarpanch Joseph Vaz said that estimate for the de-silting work of drains running into eight km has been now sent to the PWD for technical sanction.
“Today, we could not obtain the technical sanction since the official concerned was ill. We hope to receive the sanction by Wednesday, after which the file will be taken to the panchayat director for financial approval before floating the tender,” Vaz said.
He squarely blamed the Salcete BDO office for the delay in preparing the estimates, adding that the government should come out with a policy giving powers to the panchayats to spend money to the tune of Rs 50,000 to meet emergencies.
In last night heavy showers and winds, as many as 10 trees were uprooted, while a house was damaged when a tree came crashing down on the house, destroying property worth Rs 50,000.
Meanwhile, fire tenders attended to a number of calls on Tuesday following overnight rains and strong winds.
In Margao, a tree came crashing down on a house belonging to Sofia Bi near the Margao Urban Health centre, causing loss of Rs one lakh.
