VASCO: Incessant rains during the last 36 hours caused landslide at Jetty, Sada in Mormugao. The rains brought down huge boulders, along with some trees, blocking the national highway leading to MPT.
According to Vasco fire officials, they received a call at about 1 am on Saturday stating that some trees at the jetty were uprooted and had blocked the highway. The fire officials managed to partially clear the road by 4.15 am. There was traffic jam from 1 am to 4.15 am, as all the vehicles proceeding to the port and Headland Sada were stranded.
Mormugao Deputy Collector Gaurish Shankwalkar, Mormugao Mamlatdar Laxmikant and Mormugao PI Suresh Gaonkar along with the disaster management team were seen supervising the work, while the police were manning the traffic.
South Goa Collector Venancio Furtado, who visited the site to take stock of the situation, told Herald that he has directed the disaster management team to trim trees which are precariously standing on boulders with their roots exposed.
Furtado said there are two houses above the landslide area, of which one is empty and the other one is celebrating the Ganesh festival. “I have directed the residents of the house to vacate it and shift to a safer place to avoid loss of life and property,” he said. Furtado added that he has requested the Head of Department of Goa Engineering College Prof G K Gupta and his team of students to conduct the study of the landslide-prone area in Mormugao and Vasco and submit the report.
The incessant rains also saw minor landslide at Merces Vaddem, Vasco, and flooding of the Swantantra Path
road from St Andrew’s Church junction to the police
quarters Vasco.
