Fragile Altinho slope ready to crumble due to rampant constructions
Heavy rainfall makes slopes more vulnerable
Residents of Altinho and Mala fear large scale destruction, as yet another portion of hillock falls
TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: An early morning landslide at Altinho has once again brought to focus the safety of the people living along the hillock and over hundreds of houses located under the arms of the Altinho hillock which are susceptible to landslides. The sudden collapse had left the people in a tight spot about what their future would be.
Mala, an interior part of the capital city located beneath the hillock, faces a threat of being washed away if there are any major landslides. The area that houses over thousands of old-structured houses fear of being trapped if mud and rocks come sliding down due to heavy rainfall.
In a study in the 1980s, Geological Survey of India (GSI) had found that the western face of Altinho is fragile and sounded a warning that the topography should not be disturbed. In another research as early as May 2009 report of which is in possession of Goa government, GSI had given a detailed explanation that the slopes are vulnerable to landslides.
“We saw how a big portion of the hillock came down. Though it is on the other side of the hill, the situation is not very good at Mala. There is a Maruti (Lord Hanuman) temple right on top and below there are hundreds of houses. There are other hilly areas where if there is a landslide it will submerge several parts of the Mala area,” Pandurang Raut, a local who has experienced several monsoons, said.
Raut is among many whose families are living under fear of landslide and also the flooding of houses every monsoon. The residents say that the government has been utterly negligent.
“The damage costs have to be borne by us. There is no compensation. The wrecked houses, repairing gadgets or buying new ones; all are on our shoulders,” said Vidhya, a homemaker.
The vulnerable spots starting from below the High Court of Bombay at Goa are covered with plastic sheets every rainy season but in absence of permanent solution, landslides have become a common feature.
S Vaigankar, a local resident recalled how a partially-constructed house was almost buried under mud and rocks, over four years back. This, he said, was a result of hill cutting though. “Part of the hill was cut to construct the house and no precautionary measure was taken to prevent possible disaster. As such during the rains, the house almost collapsed,” he said.
CCP Corporator from the area, Rudresh Chodankar, admits that since Mala to St Inez is hilly landslides are bound to happen. “There are old constructions and houses on the slopes,” the corporator, also a resident of Mala, said. He talks nothing of rampant new illegal constructions though.
He quickly added the municipality is struggling to protect the areas from landslide with limited funds. “We are trying to protect the houses with whatever budget is available to us. It is not sufficient…there are many places where retaining walls are urgently required but with Rs six lakh funds, we can do only a bit,” he lamented.
Chodankar has meanwhile suggested that Public Works Department (PWD) should conduct a survey of the hillock “These places have to be covered with retaining walls,” he said.
It’s time the CCP taps and senses the growing anger of the people. As they see the hill crumbling and almost taking their lives with it.
