PANAJI
With the Indian Meteorology Department's weather forecast suggesting possible rains in isolated places across both North and South Goa districts from March 14 onwards, Panaji and its residents run the risk of facing some slushy, flooded streets with its drains in a mess amid the ongoing Smart City Mission works.
IMD Goa has said light rain or thundershowers at isolated places are "very likely" over north and south Goa from March 14. It has cited the gradual increase in "moisture incursion" and likely formation of a trough near Konkan-Karnataka for its forecast of rains.
Should the forecast ring true, residents in Panaji who are already burdened with excavated roads, dust pollution and poor air quality, will be further troubled with having to thread through slushy and flooded streets.
Most of the drains which aid the flow of flood waters into the Mandovi river are currently stacked with debris dumped by contractors working on 'smart city' works. Officials of the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP), admitted rains could play havoc in the city.
A top CCP official who spoke on the condition of anonymity however said that the Corporation will do its best to minimise the flooding by putting its workforce to dig out the debris from some of the arterial storm water drains should the exigency arise.
Meanwhile, the prospects of rain as forecast by the weatherman and its adverse impact on the city in a mess with most roads dug up and large amounts of mud dumped alongside, became a subject of animated discussion and memes on social media.
In a social media post, prominent Panaji resident Parag Hede, took a potshot at the dispensation citing the forecast of rain from March 14, saying it could facilitate 'Panjekars' to indulge in the monsoon mud festival 'Chikal Kalo' given the large quantity of mud available.
"It could rain on 14th in Goa. That day Panjekars will celebrate Chikal Kalo, on the lines of Marcel Chikal Kalo, as there is abundance of mud in the city," Hede wrote in his Facebook post.
