MARGAO
The efficacy of the disaster management came to the fore again on Sunday after a huge banyan tree came crashing down at Birondi-Benaulim, disrupting vehicular traffic on the Varca-Margao road. While the incident occurred at around 3 pm on Sunday, locals claimed that the fire brigade turned up at the spot after a long delay to clear the road.
Superintending Engineer, Reshma Kenkre e Mathews, personally reached the spot to oversee the operation as the incident triggered a power outage in the locality. Locals, however, demanded to know why the local electricity department officials took time to reach the site.
Vehicular movement on the road came to a halt since 3 pm and the traffic had to be diverted via Maria Hall. Till late in the evening, the fire brigade was engaged in the clearing operation, even as a JCB machine was deployed to clear the debris from the road.
A firemen informed that the work to clear the tree from the road will be completed later tonight, exuding confidence that the crucial road, connecting coastal belt to Margao, is thrown open to traffic before dawn.
A fire official attributed the delay in reaching Benaulim to the fact that they were attending to another call at Assolna earlier in the day. “The fire brigade presently has only one vehicle at its disposal to attend to calls pertaining to falling of trees. The second vehicle broke down a day ago. There was some delay since one fire tender was preoccupied at Assolna,” the firemen said, adding that the Margao fire brigade had even asked its Verna counterparts to stand by.
A local villager Cruz Fernandes said he was sitting in a nearby restaurant when he heard some noise. “There were some children who were playing around, but they had moved out before the tree came crashing down,” he said.
Local panch member Nilesh Prabhudesai said it was a man-made disaster that brought down the banyan tree. “Benaulim is the home for a large number of banyan trees. The tree becomes weak when its roots are chopped. I think this is a man-made disaster,” Nilesh added.
