the goan I network
CANACONA
A decade has passed, but memories of Cancaona’s flash floods on October 2, 2009 which claimed lives, livestock and caused extensive devastation in most parts of the taluka are still fresh in the minds of people who experienced the taluka’s worst floods in living memory.
The flash floods had been caused by an unprecedented 271 mm of rainfall on October 2, 2009, taking people unawares and with little time to take precautionary measures.
According to locals, the flash floods had claimed two lives in Poinguinim.
Babuli Mahale (38) was caught in the floods while trying to cross an internal road. The body was recovered the next day.
“Sandeep Painginkar lost his balance while helping school students cross an inundated part of the highway. His body was located two days later,” said a local.
According to sources from the animal husbandry, the livestock which perished in the floods included poultry (2000), cattle (200), goats (100) and pigs (100).
The flash floods had also caused extensive damage to property in the taluka.
“While 107 houses had collapsed, over 591 were damaged on banks of rivers Talpona and Galgibaga, while 1000 houses were flooded in the taluka, affecting thousands of people,” recalled a resident.
“Besides, paddy and sugarcane cultivations in Cotigao and Gaondongrim were destroyed by the floods, causing huge losses to over 4,000 farmers in the area.”
The losses to property on account of the October 2, 2009 flash floods were estimated at over Rs 100 crore.
Locals recalled that the government had handed over an ex-gratia of Rs 1 lakh each were given to next of kin of the two flood victims, while Rs 1,96,87,581 was provided as relief to the flood victims.
This included an amount of Rs 99,45,081 to the 2,119 affected agriculturists and Rs 97,42,500 to owners of the 591 damaged houses.
The losses and damages to other property on account of the October 2, 2009 floods was estimated at Rs 7753.99 lakh. They included damages to water resources (Rs 4,800 lakh), national highway (Rs 857 lakh), agriculture (Rs 700 lakh), electricity (Rs 500.64 lakh), industrial loss (Rs 330 lakh), water supply (Rs 200 lakh), forest (Rs 185 lakh), health (Rs 140 lakh), livestock (Rs 40.35 lakh) and community assets (Rs 1 lakh).
