Pre-monsoon showers have hit Goa which is an indication that very soon, the Southwest Monsoons will descend over the state. With this, the pre-monsoon work all over Goa is set to gather steam. The Corporation of the City of Panjim (CCP) is on its toes to complete the work around the capital city in a time-bound manner. The corporation is paying more attention to flood prone areas like Tonca-Camrabhat and Mala.
Moreover, in a bid to ensure that people don’t face the brunt of unnecessary and unwarranted road digging by government and private agencies, the District Administration has put a complete ban on such activities during the four month long season. If the digging work has to me carried out under emergency circumstance, the authorities will have to seek special permission from the Collectorate.
“Nearly 90 percent of the pre-monsoon work has been completed in all 30 wards of the CCP with hundreds of workers- including those of the corporation and private contractors- being engaged to undertake various work,” CCP Mayor Surendra Furtado told Herald. “Most of the focus has been laid on major city flooding points,” he added.
The various work includes desilting of gutters, pruning of trees and repair of drains. The CCP has partially outsourced the pre-monsoon work to a total of three groups. CCP workers are also engaged in opening up of closed drains and carrying out the cleaning of these drains.
The only major worry before the Corporation is how to control the situation if the contaminated St Inez creek gets flooded. Every year, especially after the massive flooding reported in 2013, the residents of St Inez and Caranzalem have raised apprehensions that the free flow of rain water may be impacted by the increasing siltation of the creek.
“The cleaning of St Inez creek is a long pending issue. No authorities are paying attention to this serious issue and during the rains, we locals have to face the consequences. With siltation, there is every possibility that with heavy rains, the area with get flooded as it is low lying,” Victor Gomes, a resident of Tonca, said.
Meanwhile, the Water Resources department is indulging in clearing the storm water drains from the mouth of the Sports Authority of Goa (SAG) till the nearby colony on a war footing to avoid flooding.
“We will ensure that people don’t suffer due to a lack of pre-monsoon work. The work is being done on priority in all the 30 wards. The respective councilors in their wards have already trimmed the big tress which could have caused a problem during the heavy rains,” Furtado said.
The southwest monsoon’s arrival to Goa has been delayed with its onset over Kerala’s coast still being awaited. Normally, the monsoons arrive in the coastal state by the first week of June. However this year, the pre-monsoon showers have been deficient.
