Panic grips residents as wall near building collapses at Pajifond

MARGAO
A landslide at Pajifond near Sapna valley housing project, behind Horizon Hospital, triggered panic after a significant portion of the sloppy land slide down on Saturday evening.

As a precautionary measure, the fire brigade and officials of the Salcete mamlatdar advised the occupants of the flats and villas to evacuate and move to safer places.

The landside incident reported on Saturday evening is the second incident in Salcete, the first major incident that occurred on the sloppy Marlem area in Fatorda.

Fire brigade personnel, who rushed to the site, advised the inmates of the adjoining apartments to evacuate and move to safer places as a matter of abundant caution.

Explaining the ground situation, Fire Officer Gill D’Sa informed that the landslide has taken place at the dead end of the road in between two multi-storeyed buildings, exposing the dead walls of the buildings. “There are two buildings at the dead end of the access road. The landslide has taken place right where the access road ends. The dead walls of the two building stands exposed. Our staff has advised the inmates of the buildings to evacuate. One family of S Sayed has already moved out,” he said.

To a question on the possibility of a further landslide in the area, the Fire officer did not rule out the possibility of a further landslide in the area. “At the moment we cannot say what would happen next. A further landslide cannot be ruled out, since the two buildings are exposed. Right now, we don’t know the depth of the foundation of the two buildings,” he said.

He added: “We cannot say it is dangerous or not. The site has collapsed. It can just come down. The mud is soft. There is no retaining wall. It is just a simple wall that has collapsed.”

Salcete Mamlatdar Prataprao Gaonkar said the occupants of the building have been told to evacuate and shift to safer places as a precautionary measure. He said officials of the Water Resources Department will inspect the site on Sunday to take chalk out the future course of action.

The exposed landslide site was later covered with tarpaulin sheets to prevent rain water seepage into the soft mud.