PANJIM: Landslides, rise in water-levels of major rivers, flooding, uprooting of trees, falling electrical poles, traffic at a halt, all occurred on Wednesday as heavy rains accompanied by strong winds continued to lash Goa. The State recorded almost 8 inches of rainfall in 48 hours till Wednesday morning.
As the southwest monsoon in its active phase coupled with the formation of a low-pressure area over North Bay of Bengal, rains caused havoc in the State. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) Goa Observatory has warned of heavy to very heavy showers on an Orange Alert till August 6, and heavy rainfall thereafter. Fishermen have been advised against venturing into sea.
The village Sal went under water after the gates of the Tillari Dam were opened without advance warning to residents by Water Resources Department.
The Central Water Commission (CWC) in a special advisory issued to the Western Ghats area said that due to extremely heavy rain in Belgavi district, most of the rivers flowing from Karnataka to Goa are rising rapidly. “Necessary precautions along the banks of these rivers in South and North Goa have to be taken,” CWC said.
The Fire Department personnel were on their toes even on Wednesday with nearly 200 calls across the State. On Tuesday, the department had received 269 calls.
As the heavy rainfall warning continues for the next few days, the State government has asked District Disaster Management Authorities to be on alert.
Electricity Department was flooded with complaints of power cuts as a result of uprooting of poles and wire cuts due to falling trees. Several parts of the State remained in the dark for more than 48 hours.
“Monsoon is in its active phase from August 2 as a result of strengthening of westerly winds at 1.5km and 3.1km above mean sea level,” IMD scientist Rahul Mohan said.
“When the monsoon gets strengthened, the pressure pattern over Arabian Sea also aligns in such a way that wind speeds at lower levels of atmosphere across the coast increases,” the scientist explained.
