THE GOAN NETWORK
PANAJI
The Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) which commenced preparing the city for the monsoon back in mid-January but was interrupted by the 'Smart City' work has now completed the first round of cleaning drains, gutters and trimming trees across all wards of the civic body, officials who are part of the team engaged in the work have said.
“The first round is complete. Now the focus will be on the flood points in the city based on the experience last year," the official said.
All areas which witnessed flooding last year will now be tackled, the official said, adding that work is also being coordinated with other government departments like the Water Resources Department (WRD) and the Public Works Department (PWD).
Meanwhile a crucial factor for flooding during heavy downpours in the city -- water reverse-flowing into the city's storm water drainage system from the Mandovi river during high-tide hours -- has CCP officials worried.
Although last year the sluice-gate system was employed with the help of the WRD, instances of reverse-flow and consequent flooding had been reported.
The CCP official said, the WRD is on the job and the experiment will be improvised this year.
Meanwhile, the CCP has set a target of trimming as many as 400 trees in the capital city which have been identified as possible risks for residents and commuters if uprooted in inclement weather.
The task is being executed with a set of 50 workers recruited temporarily on a daily wage basis, the official said.
CCP Mayor Rohit Monserrate said, the first round of pre-monsoon preparations is completed in all the 30 wards but added that workers will continue with multiple rounds of cleaning of drains and gutters until the monsoon hits.
He said that the list of about 400 trees to be trimmed was prepared by the forest department mostly located on the river-hugging DB Road and some other main roads in the interior parts of the city.
He added that he would be personally going around the city in the last week of May to ensure that no pre-monsoon work is kept incomplete.
