the goan I network
OLD GOA
Locals of Manxer in Carambolim have been expressing fear of their houses getting flooded if the three bundhs providing protection from saline water were not repaired at the earliest. And these fears saw reality in the past three days when a surge in saline water resulted in around 10 houses of the area getting flooded. The situation became worse on Saturday as the saline water gushed inside the houses with speed, catching locals unawares, and the houses remained inundated for over three hours.
Speaking to The Goan, a local Fatima Rodrigues, a teacher by profession, informed that for centuries the locals have been residing here without fear of flooding as three bundhs namely Dongzo, Nangonzo and another bundh from Manxer to Petter provided protection from the saline water which flows from the River Zuari. But today due to lack of maintenance, the two bundhs, Dongzo and Nangonzo, have been breached due to which the saline water has entered the paddy fields, and now, only the Manxer to Petter bundh remains the last defence against the saline water, Rodrigues said.
Rodrigues further stated that two years back the said bundh was repaired and it was informed to them that the height would be increased to 1 metre above water level while the width of the bundh would be increased to 3 metres. However, this did not happen and the height was not even raised to half a metre whereas the width was also not increased to 3 metres. Moreover, a portion of the bundh was not even repaired due to which it is breached at several places. The result is that today, the water flowed over the bundh and entered the houses,” she stated.
Asked if they had informed about the issue to panchayat authorities, the locals were vocal that the panchayat has been sleeping on their pleas. “We had raised the issue even at the gram sabha but to no avail,” Vaz added while stating that they had gone to meet the Mamlatdar who sent the Talathi for inspection.
“For the moment, at least the last surviving bundh should be repaired on an urgent basis to give us temporary reprieve,” Vaz demanded and opined that the long term solution is to repair the other two bundhs as well to prevent flooding from taking place.
