Team Herald
PANJIM: Sudden heavy showers on Wednesday exposed the State machinery’s unpreparedness to handle emergency situations as the capital city was inundated leading to traffic jams and chaos.
At the city’s entry points, the KTC Bus Stand and the Miramar-Dona Paula road, traffic was brought almost to a standstill for hours due to water clogging.
Panjim Bus Stand was inundated completely with water levels as high as one feet, making it difficult for passengers to walk and board or de-board the buses. The heavy showers did not even spare the shops and restaurants in and around the bus stand.
Staff at the restaurants outside the bus stand was busy emptying the restaurant of the water that had entered the premises. A restaurant manager said, “While the municipality claimed to have started cleaning the drains three months back, the real face of the work is exposed today. One spell of rains and the city is flooded.”
Even the Mandovi bridges were inundated and more than six inches of water led to vehicular congestion on the bridges.
Every street of the city was inundated with water levels as high as two feet at some places including 18th June Road, area around Don Bosco and all along the Dayanand Bandodar Marg which ensured that even the promenade was flooded and people faced difficulties in walking.
Corporation of the City of Panjim (CCP), however, claimed that as per the plan the municipality had undertaken the pre-monsoon works but the flooding was due to the high tide at the sea and the incessant rains coming together.
Mayor Surendra Furtado said, “We have been carrying out pre-monsoon works since mid-January and we had requested all government departments not to carry out any digging and development works after March. However, PWD dug the roads at several places and subsequently the drains had not been cleaned by them. This has led to water clogging.”
He said that Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation (GSIDC) is responsible for the Miramar-Dona Paula road as the road works have not been completed and handed over to the CCP. He also blamed the works being carried for the third Mandovi Bridge for the inundation and chaos around the KTC bus stand.
Meanwhile, a fishing trawler capsized at Nerul near the Coco Beach, however, no human loss or injuries were reported.
