It’s going to be a double-pronged situation for the administration in the coming days as it is going to have to deal with conducting a number of COVID-19 swab tests and containing the spread of the virus, while also handling the rough weather expected to arise from cyclone Nisarga that is heading towards Mumbai where it is forecast to make landfall on Wednesday afternoon. Goa is among the coastal States that is on alert, and the weather has already shown signs of deteriorating. On Tuesday, till evening, the State had received 44mm of rain through intermittent showers as a result of the cyclone that was centred 270 away from the Goa coast.
The cyclone is expected to intensify as it approaches land on Wednesday. Since it will be at a great distance, there is no certainty that the cyclone will have any major devastating effects on Goa, but the State is on Orange alert, and a situation could arise that would call for the work of the disaster management teams. Is Goa prepared? From the little that was seen on Tuesday, Goa is not prepared as flooded streets and overflowing drains greeted motorists and pedestrians across the State. Besides, power supply was disrupted almost through the day in several areas. This is an indication that the pre-monsoon work that is undertaken in the summer months was not successfully completed. The poor quality of the work is not a surprise, it is a story that unfolds every monsoon.
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Since it is a cyclone that is heading towards the Maharashtra and Gujarat coasts, the State’s Disaster Management Team is on call to meet the eventualities of any situation. Disaster response and rescue teams are in place to respond to any crisis that may occur, with a Control Room operational. It is understandable in the time of a cyclone, but these teams will be on call throughout the monsoon. Why can’t Goa prepare itself in advance to reduce any adverse fallout from the annual rains that drench the State? It is not that the authorities remain unaware of the situations that arise during the monsoon. Why then is the State almost always caught off guard?
Take the example of what occurred last year when the incessant rains proved that the State was not prepared to meet the eventuality of a disaster. Goa received above normal rains last year, and there were spells – like the one when it received 32 inches of rain in the space of eight days – that resulted in floods and threw normal life out of gear, with even schools closed for a day, and essential supplies of milk, vegetable and fruits disrupted. Landslides had been reported, and the river waters had risen, flowing over the banks and innundating low-lying areas. The gates of dams had been opened to let out the water, worsening the flood situation. It shouldn’t repeat this year, so was any care taken in the past eight months of a dry spell to ensure we don’t suffer a repeat?
The current weather is offering the State an opportunity to identify the problem areas that could result in more concerns during the coming months. The rains that Goa is receiving are caused by the cyclone, that is expected to gradually decrease in intensity after June 4. The monsoon is not expected to hit Goa till June 6. This gives the local bodies in the State – towns and villages – a possible 48-hour window to work on the areas where problems are occuring. The Corporation of the City of Panaji, alongwith the Smart City officials conducted an inspection of the problem areas on Tuesday. Did other municipalities and panchayats carry out a similar exercise?
