W e have been reading tales of ancient civilisations punished by gods for committing sins with rains of fire, flooding, droughts, plagues etc. However, if we look closer home we can attribute these to the acts of omission and commission of mankind. Such scenes were also witnessed in Canacona in 2009, where unprecedented and continuous rains for a few days in the beginning of October saw all the rivers in spate and unable to cope with the downpour.
The river water rose by over 15 metres above the normal level at some places on the afternoon of October 2 that year, washing away houses, livestock, plantation and peoples’ belongings with it, causing losses in crores of Rupees.
In October last year too similar scenes were notices, although not to the level of 2009. There were reports of Talpona river water rising by few meters causing losses to farmers living close to the river bank.
Canacona taluka has three rivers and one rivulet all of which originate from the pristine hills of the Western Ghats, which are listed as ecological hot spots and receive rains in abundance as they block the monsoon clouds which eventually precipitate feeding the seasonal rivers.
To harness the waters in the post monsoon season the WRD has constructed many bandharas over the rivers which is utilised for drinking and irrigation purposes. But with high rains these mini dams also become the contributing factor for flooding, as big trees that are uprooted get washed during the monsoon and get stuck at these mini-dams which has a 2 metre wide opening.
The banks of all these rivers get washed away and needs a programme for bank stabilisation on a war footing, or else locals fear more silt and uprooted trees will get washed downstream.
Due to restrictions imposed by the forest department, the wild growth of the vegetation all along both the banks of this rivers have shrunk the rivers and if not cleared may be disastrous for the rivers as well as locals residing near this rivers.
Crabs have also made the rivers their home and are abundantly found here, which dig out mounds of soil from the bed of the rivers and with the passage of time, mini-islands have surfaced where there was deep water channels earlier.
During the flash floods, landslides and natural erosion has caused lot of stones and other silt to get washed down and these sediments have deposited on the bed of the river all along. At some places the rivers have changed its course, the WRD in the past had cleared the silt from the rivulets and rivers upstream but the silt deposited downstream and at the confluence points are left untouched complain locals.
Now that the monsoon season is fast approaching locals seem to have sleepless nights pondering over the outcome during the rains. The locals fear that the river may swell again and cause the despair and destruction all around.
Besides, the locals, who fear a 2009-like situation, complain that there is no alarm system in place to warn the villagers of approaching disaster.
Locals have also come up with a suggestion for the disaster management team to compile a data of the people that will get affected due to the calamity. They say that they are relying on God for safety and local youth who reach out to the affected areas using the latest technology like android cell phones, as they did during last year when the river was flooded.
Last year, the sarpanch of Cotigao Umesh Gaonkar and local MLA Isidore Fernandes had formed teams of youth who began alerting inhabitants living in low-lying areas before the arrival of the emergency response team..
