Collector orders desilting of drains, culverts along Paroda-Quepem road
A cyclist wading through flood waters on a road at Paroda on Thursday.
MARGAO
With the main Margao-Quepem road submerged under flood water at Paroda and large tracts of low-lying areas of the village inundated by water, South Goa district Collector, Egna Cletus on Thursday invoked powers under the Disaster Management Act to immediately undertake the cleaning and desilting of all drains, culverts and cross drains in and around the Paroda-Quepem road and along all approach roads leading to the stretch.
Invoking powers under Section 33 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, the district Collector, who also heads the South Goa District Disaster Management Authority, as its chairperson, further issued directions to the authorities to ensure that water flow is unobstructed and initiate measures to prevent further flooding. The PWD officials have been directed to submit a compliance report within 48 hours of issuance of the order.
Similarly, directions have been issued to the authorities to immediately inspect all electricity poles, transformers, and power infrastructure in the flooded area and along the Paroda-Quepem road and to ensure safety of all installations and take necessary preventive actions to avoid electrical hazards.
The Electricity Department has been directed to maintain strict round-the-clock monitoring of the situation by deploying linemen/ suitable personnel and to report any risks or outages immediately to the Dy Collector & SDO-II, Salcete.
The Collector has issued the directions after it was brought to her notice that the road at Paroda leading to Quepem is flooded due to heavy rainfall, resulting in disruption of traffic movement and posing a risk to public safety.
