Vasco was a witness to a landslide recently, much before the rains could take over. The few spells of rainfall have wreaked havoc across Sattari and a few other places in the hinterland, even as the State Disaster Management team sounds ready to brace for newer challenges the weather throws up. The confidence levels appear higher with Chief Minister Pramod Sawant mentioning that the response time has now been cut to six minutes from nine minutes earlier.
Away from that scurry, Goa is facing another dark reality. The landslides that the State has been witnessing in recent times are not entirely blamed on the weather; in fact, a large part of the ecological crisis is man-made. A recent report by a high-level Landslide Committee set up by the government paints a disturbing picture of indiscriminate slope cutting, deforestation, poor drainage systems, and unregulated construction, which have sharply intensified the danger.
The committee’s two-year scientific study, using drone surveys, remote sensing, and geospatial analysis, highlights the scale of the threat. Goa’s lateritic soil, highly vulnerable to saturation during heavy rains, naturally weakens hill slopes during the monsoon. Yet poorly planned development has significantly worsened the situation. Road-widening projects carried out without adequate geotechnical safeguards have destabilised slopes, while uprooted vegetation and soil erosion have further weakened already fragile terrain. Areas such as Loutolim and Verna illustrate the consequences of reckless planning, where embankment failures and faulty drainage systems have directly contributed to landslides.
Equally alarming is the continued encroachment into No Development Zones, illegal construction activity, and unchecked excavation beyond permissible depths. These violations have accelerated slope instability across several vulnerable regions. The absence of mandatory geological assessments for major projects and the failure to integrate scientific data into planning decisions have only compounded the risk. The committee’s recommendations of reinforced earth walls, soil nailing, bioengineering measures, and microzonation mapping offer a credible path forward, but that has been completely ignored.
Long-term mitigation must begin with scientific land-use planning. High-risk zones need to be clearly identified at the taluka level, with stringent construction norms enforced in vulnerable areas. There has to be a stringent ban on construction on slopes steeper than the prescribed gradient. Without adequate safeguards, rapidly developing areas such as Baina, Sada, Verna, and Cortalim will remain highly exposed to disaster.
These reports would be meaningless if they were not followed up on. The government’s intent and intervention are paramount. The State is paying lip service to disaster management. A team of officials demolishing a few galleries that were precariously hanging overhead in Margao does not give any sense of security when there are over 20 such dangerous structures waiting to collapse at any time. Such dangers are lurking in other cities like Vasco and even Panaji.
While the report on landslides paints a grim picture, and with the monsoon looming, authorities need to look within and fill the gaps in systems. Emergency response infrastructure remains hollow, with inherent weakness in firefighting equipment, volunteer support, limited manpower and communication shortcomings. The recent incident in Cuncolim, where a lone fire tender struggled to clear fallen trees, underlined the inadequacy of existing response mechanisms.
Protecting the state’s fragile landscape will require a decisive shift towards science-driven planning, strict enforcement of land-use laws, investment in resilient infrastructure, and stronger disaster response systems. As climate uncertainty intensifies, the monsoon is no longer merely a seasonal challenge but a warning of greater risks ahead. Without urgent and coordinated action, Goa’s scenic landscape could increasingly become prone to ecological tragedies.
