the goan I network
PANAJI
Heavy rains lashed the state all throughout Thursday, with the capital city hardly seeing any break from the torrential downpour. As usual, the city was not prepared for the copious amounts of rainfall it received, with many parts of the city flooding, making it very dangerous for two-wheeler riders, who could not see the road because of the pools of water.
Traffic moving through Miramar had to literally ‘wade’ through the water, while 18 June Road also had its fair share of flooding near Bombay Bazaar. Practically every main road in the capital city was flooded, and this led to many traffic jams in the city with vehicles taking much longer than usual to traverse short distances.
Meanwhile, the Met Department said that the rains were as expected, and were also set to continue the whole day on Friday. “The reason the state is receiving such heavy rainfall is because of the cyclonic circulation over Gujarat and North Maharashtra. Due to this, Goa is getting heavy wind,” director of the Met Department Dr KV Padgalwar said. He further explained that a feeble off-shore trough passing through Karnataka towards the Kerala coast also added to the weather conditions.
Padgalwar said that Sanguem had received the highest amount of rainfall at 22 centimeters, followed closely by Quepem at 21 centimeters. Dabolim and Margao received 11 centimeters of rainfall each, Ponda, Panaji and Mormugao received 10 centimeters each, and Ela (Old Goa) and Sankhali received 9 centimeters each. Meanwhile, Mapusa did not fare as well as other cities with just 6 centimeters of rainfall, while the lowest amounts were received by Pernem and Canacona at 3 centimeters each.
The IMD also warned of
high waves in the range of 3.5 to 4.3 meters till Thursday evening, especially between 5:30 pm and 11:30 pm. Due to the rough sea conditions, the Met Department has advised fishermen not to venture out into the sea.
Padgalwar said that despite the monsoons arriving late to Goa, the deficit for June has been narrowed down to 14%. “But this was as expected because anywhere between a 19% deficit to a 19% excess rain is seen as “normal,” he said.
“The heavy rainfall received from June 26 to 30 made up for the delay in the monsoons. The rainfall received during these days made up 50-51% of the rainfall received in June,” he said.
