Flooding in Sanvorcotto
Culvert construction by GSIDC dammed water flow
TEAM HERALD
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MARGAO: Sanvorcotto in Cuncolim bore the brunt of Tuesday’s heavy downpour when a rivulet threatened to inundate large tracts of land and residential houses along its banks.
The reason was not far too seek. A temporary pipe culvert erected by the Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation (GSIDC) parallel to the existing culvert virtually dammed the smooth flow of water. An hour later, the rivulet overflowed, inundating around 50-60 houses and affecting many more, besides low lying areas along the banks.
When Cuncolim Municipal Chairperson Devendra Dessai sought permission from Additional Collector, Sandhya Kamat at around 12.30 pm to engage JCBs to remove the piped culvert, Kamat said that Collector N D Agrawal was on his way to the site with GSUDA technical officials to work out a solution.
An hour later, what was feared came true as the flood water not only inundated large tracts of land, but around 60 residential houses as well forcing around 150-200 people to leave their homes to take shelter with their friends and relatives. Around 200 houses are believed to have been affected by the flooding, besides a temple.
It was only then that the Additional Collector gave the go-ahead signal to the CMC Chairperson to engage the JCBs to clear the piped culvert from the rivulet, but the damage was already done. The JCBs could not move in to the site, further delaying the operation.
That’s not all. If the CMC Chairperson is to be believed, the civic body had written to the GSIDC over a month ago that the piped culvert would cause flooding in the area. But the GSIDC replied back saying that the temporary culvert has been laid as per the survey report of the consultant.
Locals blamed the authorities for erecting the piped culvert some six months ago, which was to act as a road diversion once the existing culvert was razed down to make way for a new one. They directed their ire at the local MLA Rajan Naik, Police and district authorities for the flood situation in the area.
MLA Rajan Naik blamed the contractor for the delay in starting the work on the new culvert on time. He agreed that the piped culvert was erected months ago, but the contractor did not start the work. “There was huge delay on the part of the contractor. The government has moved in to terminate the contractor and appoint a new contractor,” he said, while promising to provide relief to the affected families.
The recreational centre at Maddicotto came in handy to provide shelter to the marooned people. Though many people were affected in the flooding, only a few took shelter at the recreational centre, while others were given shelter by their relatives and friends.
