SANGUEM
The Valshem Bridge in Bhati village got submerged as heavy rains lashed the interiors of Sanguem taluka on Thursday evening.
Residents were caught off-guard and were compelled to wait for nearly two hours on either side of the Valshem Bridge.
The rain poured incessantly for almost four hours and the Portuguese-era bridge at Valshem went underwater within no time, halting traffic over the bridge for two hours.
The villagers informed that the bridge was almost knee-deep underwater.
“This is for the first time that we saw so much water flowing over the bridge. Due to the strong water current, a large tree came crashing down and got stuck near the bridge, affecting the flow of water all the more,” claimed a villager, Poro Gaonkar.
Even during regular monsoon season, the bridge gets submerged, but the water recedes within no time. This is for the first time that people had to spend almost two hours on either side of the bridge,” he added.
The villagers also insisted that the Portuguese-era bridge in the village needs to be reconstructed with an increased height.
Meanwhile, heavy rains in the village also caused severe damage to the agricultural plantations in the area.
“Paddy fields which were about to be harvested went underwater,” said Netravali Panch Rakhi Naik.
On Friday evening, Rakhi Naik along with the Talathi of Netravali conducted a site inspection of the damage caused to the agricultural plantation in the area and will forward the report to the department for compensation to the affected people.
