TEAM HERALD
bureau@herald-goa.com
MAYEM: After a two-day respite, heavy rains struck Bicholim taluka on Saturday and submerged most of the low-lying areas in the taluka.
The heavy downpour led to sudden rise in water levels at Valwanti River in Sanquelim, forcing Water Resource Department officials to start all four lift irrigation pumps installed near the Sanquelim market to prevent the area from flooding.
“Taking note of the heavy rains, all four lift irrigation pumps were pressed into service,” said WRD Executive Engineer Pramod Badami.
At Bicholim, areas like Bandarwada, Piddukkarwada, and some parts of Gaonkarwada, Bordem, Lamgao and surrounding areas were submerged by the rainwater.
The rivulets were overflowing at Gauthan, Vithlapur, Karapur Bandirwada and surrounding areas at Sanquelim, but there was no danger or loss of property.
“Last year, the de-silting work and other flood prevention measures like construction of retaining walls undertaken by WRD at the cost of Rs 20 crore have succeeded in preventing floods in Ghoteli, Keri, Sanquelim and Bicholim,” said WRD Junior Engineer K P Naik.
Sanquelim MLA Dr Pramod Sawant along with officials of various departments visited the affected areas and other areas prone to flooding and reviewed the preventive measures put into place.
He also instructed the disaster management team to remain alert in order to avoid the possibility of floods in the area. The MLA was accompanied by WRD EE Pramod Badami, AE P V Sreekumar and JE K P Naik.
The Bicholim fire services attended to some calls on Saturday. Two trees uprooted at Advalpal and Bicholim and damaged the overhead electricity cables. The firemen under the guidance of AFDO Shripad Gawas later cleared the fallen trees from the two sites.
