Flood-hit houses in danger of collapsing

The South Goa District Disaster Management Authority has warned that most of the mud houses in the villages of Usgao and Ganjem in Ponda taluka are in danger of collapsing post floods, if no preventive measures are taken at the earliest. 

As the result of recent havoc caused by heavy rains, 13 houses were totally damaged and 206 houses were partially damaged and waterlogged. The houses damaged were due to inundation in the low-lying area where the water flow was very high. 

The havoc created by incessant rain and flooding in the month of July had resulted in major damage to the houses and other properties in Goa, mostly rural areas. Usgao and Ganjem of Ponda taluka are the two villages that were badly affected due to the heavy rain, and the people are yet to recover from the disaster. 

SGDMA, Ponda taluka under the leadership of Additional Collector Ajit Panchwadkar, a report has been prepared on rescue and relief operation of affected people at village Usgao and Ganjem on account of inundation of houses due to incessant rain and flooding in July. 

The report indicates that in spite of attempting eight times the coastguards were unable to rescue the stranded people from Ganjem, besides, even after urging two helicopters in service at a time, the rescue team of Indian Navy Helicopter could not reach the site at Ganjem.

“As a last resort, the fire fighters led by station officer Sushil Morajkar in his brave attempt set out to rescue the 13 stranded people by a dinghy. The 13 stranded persons from Ganjem were thereafter rescued and shifted to the high planes”, the report further stated. 

The efforts of authorities saved 19 lives from the jaws of death and ensured that there was not a single casuality in the calamity that struck on the fateful night of July 22. 

The heavy rains had severely affected various places in Usgao and Ganjem village causing huge losses/damages to the houses and household items. Various houses were inundated due to the rise in water level in River Mhadei which led to the complete collapse of several houses in parts of the village Panchayats namely Gaonkarwada, Tiral, Takwada, Wadbag, Nanus, Ganjem, Ghodegal, Parsol, Sonarbag and Katar.

As per the report the residents of Mestawada, Panchwada and Wadbag whose houses were submerged were rescued and were taken to the shelter home at Government Primary School Barazan. Subsequent to that, in a brave effort by Ponda Police six persons were rescued from ward number six Parasol area that included a one-year-old infant.

Around 219 families with about 1205 persons were affected by the floods. These include the damage to Saint Joseph Church and Ishwar Parvati Temple at Nanus. 

The household appliances, furniture, groceries, utensils washed away from the houses that were affected by the flood. The affected residents were also lost their valuable documents, cash, etc. The livestock was also affected. The horticulture plantation was damaged at various places thereby causing a huge loss. There were several vehicles submerged in the water which included six Bal Raths from St Joseph High School Takwada, Usgao. The water supply was disrupted in the affected areas.

Speaking to Herald on the backdrop of the above report Additional Collector Ajit Panchwadkar stated that “the authorities thus left no stone unturned to prioritise the services of essential services like food, clean water, utilities, transportation, etc. The assistance is also provided to ensure that the business activities such as shops, restaurants, etc, are brought back to normal.”

It must also be noted that the hard efforts of citizens of surrounding areas helped to rescue the people stranded at various places. 

Ajit informed that as per his suggestion and request of villagers more than 600 seekers of Param Pujya Narendra Maharaj from various parts of the state descended in Ganjem Village on August 1.

“They volunteered to clear the debris of the collapsed houses and also cleaned each and every house with the assistance of firefighters.12 trucks of debris were collected and disposed of. The work which otherwise would have taken several months was completed within a day. In spite of all the loss the villagers suffered they breathed a sigh of relief to see that the condition inside the houses was restored,” he stated. 

The assessment of loss incurred was done by talathis and a special camp was conducted from August 3 and 5 to assess loss to agriculture property.

“However the challenge was the recovery and restoration since almost all the houses at Ganjem were submerged the priority was to clear the debris and clean the houses. Though the relief in the form good items was received from various corners I suggested to the locals that instead of food they should appeal for physical labour. In the wake of COVID-19, the hygiene was the top priority to arrest spread of any disease,” said Additional Collector Ajit.