FLOODS IN GALGIBAGA

PANAJI/MARGAO: The army and the navy had to be called in as Canacona reeled under flash floods on Friday. Two persons were feared dead and over a

thousand people affected in the taluka as incessant rains—it was the season’s second wettest day—threw normal life out of gear in most parts of Goa, disrupting air, rail and road traffic. Damage to crops is apprehended as most fields have been flooded. The authorities refused to confirm the two suspected deaths, stating this could be done only after the bodies were recovered.

However, flood waters started receding by late evening and the situation was back to near normal. All those marooned in the flooded taluka had been rescued. Flights started taking off from Dabolim airport, where flooded runways had stopped operations from 1pm to 6pm, stranding hundreds of passengers. Although light vehicles resumed plying on the Canacona-Karwar national highway, a large number of inter-state buses were stranded on both sides of the border. “Eleven marooned people were rescued, while many others moved to safer places on their own. With water levels receding things are returning to normal,” South Goa additional collector Prasanna Acharya said. Several trains on the Konkan Railway route were cancelled, rescheduled or diverted as tracks went under water. There was no disruption of services on the Margao-Mumbai or South Western railway route.

Sources said a cloudburst on the Goa-Karnataka border might have led to the heavy rains in Canacona. In most other parts of the state, specially north Goa, the damage was limited to a few uprooted trees and wall collapses. The port town’s Vaddem area saw 20 houses flooded.

Among the worst-hit villages by the flood waters of Galgibaga and Canacona were the villages of Galgibaga, Sadolxem, Poinguinim, Bhatpal, Mashem, Babrem and Poinguinim. Houses in Edda, a village inside the Cotigao sanctuary, suffered severe damage. Sources said over 1,000 affected villagers were being temporarily housed in schools, panchayat buildings, churches and forest rest houses. CM Digambar Kamat directed the south Goa collector to set up a camp at Bhatpal to assist the affected. He sought assessment of the loss so that financial aid can be extended to the flood-hit.