The name of the capital city has been changed from Panjim to Panaji and the Panjim Municipal Council has been changed into the Corporation of the City of Panaji, as measures of patriotism and better regulations for its functioning, but little has been done by the successive governments and city fathers to alleviate the citizens from immediate flooding during monsoons whenever there is a downpour for more than five minutes .
The Herald dated Sept 19 has rightly highlighted the various reasons of choked up drains with plastic bottles thrown by tourists etc which are some of the causes of immediate water logging of the capital city main thorough fares as reported by various persons. Being a resident of Panjim for more than five decades, it has been observed that flooding of the city on the famous 18th June Road, Dr Atmaram Borkar Road and just infront of the Municipal building and Goa Police Headquarters takes place, from my school days till date, as very little has been done in proper planning of the drains for rain water to recede immediately.
Since Panjim is situated on the river front, the high tide of the Mandovi river is one of the main reasons which does not allow the water to flow from its drains to its outlets in the river as was undertaken during the erstwhile Portuguese days. So pre-monsoon dredging of the river bed is very essential to contain flooding of the city. Many gutters and nullahs have also been foolishly concretised which now prevent rain water to percolate to the ground below. Many open areas where water used to sink in the ground have also been concretised by high rise buildings.
It is an apprehension always in the mind of the citizen that if rampant concretisation is allowed in the city then the day is not far when we will face the floods which Mumbai experienced some days ago. Thus it is imperative that the city fathers and Chief Minister and MLA of Panjim to resolve the problem of flooding by working together rather than merely concentrating on winning elections by repeatedly assuring the citizens that steps will be taken to tackle the flooding of the city before embarking on Smart City Project.
This will save the city along with its citizens from sinking permanently.
