PANAJI
Heavy rains battered the Capital City on Monday and the plush EDC Patto area turned into a lake and several other roads were submerged in other parts of Panaji, much to the anger of people travelling in the city.
The high-profile area of EDC Patto area witnessed knee-deep water, making it difficult for pedestrians, cars and two-wheelers to travel in the area.
Areas like the Panaji bus-stand, Bhatlem, 18th June Road and Miramar Circle were also inundated.
With the heavy rains, people preferred to move in cars and this only added to the traffic congestion, as queues of cars were seen at many streets and traffic police struggling to regulate the traffic.
The GMC underpass went underwater yet again and what made the situation dangerous was the present of a high-tension power connection barely inches from the water level. Posts indicating that lives would be in danger if the live power connection were to come in contact with water went viral on social media and people were warned to avoid using the underpass.
Near GMC, a lady doctor fell into a pit filled with water near a footpath under construction. She was, however, quickly removed from the pit.
RGP MLA Viresh Borkar claimed the faulty design is the sole reason for accumulation of water in the subway at Bambolim.
“It is now very difficult to find a solution. This subway was built twice but the problem remains the same. There was also water logging while leaving the Atal Setu,” said Borkar.
Aldona Congress MLA Carlos Ferreira ridiculed authorities in Panaji for their lack of preparedness.
“Panaji is getting flooded and you call it a Smart City? Why are we wasting so much money on smart cities,” asked Ferreira.
Meanwhile, with several heavy spells of rain in last fortnight, Goa’s rain deficit has been almost wiped out.
Goa was almost 50 per cent rain deficit a fortnight ago. The average seasonal rain received in Goa till 5.30 pm on Monday was just 16 mm less than the normal rain received at this point in time.
The State received average 52.8 mm rain in the last 24 hours. Sanguem received very heavy rain of 120 mm followed by Margao-80 and Valpoi 70 mm.
