*Galgibaga river, which in normal course used to flow into the sea together with the Mashem River has been separated and now connects directly to the Arabian Sea.
Goemkarponn desk
CANACONA: At last the inevitable has 
happened as the Galgibaga river which in normal course used to flow into the sea together with the Mashem river, has got separated and now connects directly to the Arabian sea. The damage caused to the sand bar separating the Galgibaga river and the Arabian sea and deposition of sand on its normal course has been the reasons attributed to the evitable change, locals say.
It’s very rare to see two rivers meeting each other just before they empty into a sea and that’s exactly what made these two rivers important in all aspects in turn throwing a breathtaking view especially during sunset at the confluence point.
The Mashem-Galibaga river creek, where these two rivers meet was a thriving port, half a century ago say the elders who witnessed medium sized ships coming from as far as China with goods.
The creek was more than ten metres deep informed elderly locals.
The river mouth started getting shallow when the PWD in its own wisdom started filling the Mashem river with soil to build a bridge by using cement pipes two decades ago.
The alert locals stopped the work halfway as they felt that this bridge will block the flow of the river and in turn will flood the low lying areas around.
As the PWD abandoned the Mashem river half blocked, there started forming a sand bar which resulted in the river mouth getting shallower and shallower locals informed.
Unable to bear the strain on its natural course the sand bar which stood between the Galgibagha river and the Arabian sea ultimately got breached during the last months cyclone Tauktae.
The damage to the sand bar was at a distance of about fifty metres which would have been easy to re-gap but the authorities preferred to play deaf and dumb and ultimately not able to withstand the natural forces the major part of the sand bar got washed away on Thursday informed Manoj Prabhugaonkar a resident of Mashem.
When this correspondent visited the spot to access the damage, it was observed that more than 100 mt of the sand bar had got washed away which is equal to the width of the river.
Huge waves are now directly entering the river from the sea causing dangerous currents in the river.
A local who had ventured into the river on his canoe had a miraculous escape as his canoe got capsized due to turbulent currents, informed Prabhugaonkar.
This correspondent observed that the mangroves on the Mashem side are muck now and has sand all around.
“This needs a high level study otherwise the mangrove trees which act as a first level of defence will disappear completely leaving the river bank to the mercy of tidal currents, sea waves and the floods in the rainy season” said another local, Matilda Dias.
Meanwhile, locals complained that the sea and rain water entered into three houses near the Mashem jetty and they had to be shifted to higher grounds for safety.
A river changing its course is a major issue, this will not only affect the human beings living in the vicinity of these rivers, but it is going to be disastrous to the ecosystem which includes the aquatic life, mangroves and the locals living on the banks of both these rivers. And if the authorities don’t act it will be too late to put the Galgibaga river on its normal course again, felt locals.
