Goemkarponn desk
CANACONA: Sunday incessant rains with heavy water-loggings and floods left a trail of destruction, even as incessant rains resumed to pound Canacona early Tuesday morning.
Farmers during the sowing period suffered extensive damage to their paddy fields and other crops destroyed, while many of the residents living on the river banks and low-lying areas continued to live in fear anticipating a dangerous rise in water level.
The rains have however created and continue to create havoc in every corner of the taluka causing loss of lakhs of rupees to the electricity department and the farmers.
The rains resulting in water–clogging have completely damaged the agriculture cultivations at several parts of Gaondongrim, Khotigao, Shristhal, Agonda, and Loliem with the floodwater destroying the freshly cultivated paddy crop at its nursery stage, besides washing out of the Paddy Crop at Nursery stage and washing out of the manure and destroying of the prepared fields for Sowing the seeds and transplantations.
In some areas, the Arecanut and Banana plantations have been completely damaged, besides uprooting and washing out of other cultivations.
Assistant Electricity Engineer Govind Bhat said that around 18 electricity poles in the Karamalghat, Palolem and Loliem areas were broken and other electrical goods were damaged. AE pegged the losses at an estimated cost of over Rs 25 lakh.
Given the quantum of agricultural losses which can run up to 25-30 lakhs of rupees, the Sunday divulge is estimated to have caused losses of over 50 lakhs of rupees.
Sandesh Gaonkar a farmer at Ziltawadi in Gaondongrim informed that his entire plantation of paddy seeds in 10,000 square metres of land is washed away, taking away all the local manure he used for its growth and instead huge amount of waste including bad mud and pebbles is brought into the field.
Another farmer Sudesh (Pandurang) Gaonkar who is cultivating paddy at Apeacond-Fulamol in Gaondongrim village, informed us his entire areca nut plantation he had recently raised has been destroyed by the floods, besides making a mess of the entire banana plantation. “Even my costly motor is damaged and useless. There is no hope that any of my cultivation will yield anything unless the entire crops are re-cultivated. I hope the government helps farmers like us by compensating the losses and extending us a helping hand to re-cultivate the crops,” said Gaonkar.
It is the same story at Bhupar, besides several places at Khotigao and most of the paddy fields which had as recently as a day before the floods sowed paddy seeds get washed away, and fields stand destroyed.
Savio Fernandes a farmer of Agonda informed that after preparing the fields seeds were sown, but everything was washed away in the floods and on the top lots of discarded wood and other wastes including stones have buried the fields.
Past Sunday midnight, water got clogged into the compound of Canacona Dy. Collectorate and the flood water was literarily flowing over the NH66 road extending nearby to the Canacona post office, by the time this floodwater subsided, one side of the Dy. The collector compound wall was destroyed.
In the Nagarcem area, as the pipes under the NH66 culvert got choked, water began to flush out over the national highway. Monday evening the ward councillor Hemant Kumar requisitioning the the PWD officials with the help of a JCB opened the choked up under-road drain partly opening up the NH road. Canaocna Dy. Collector Madhu Narvekar personnel came to oversee the restoration works.
At Agonda people going to early Church morning had a big surprise as the floods racing over the road have cut off the possibility of either going towards the church or coming from the area. People were forced to stay put for long periods and began to crossover after the water began to subside slowly.
The Cotigao road is finally restored, after the Disaster Management Team (DMT) worked tirelessly, bringing and emptying boulders and mud with the help of Tipper trucks and JCB working till late in the night.
‘The normal traffic is resumed but with precautions, as the restoration of the road is only temporary. We have stationed policemen at the site, and police will continue to guard the traffic flow with care and restraint over the repaired road at Avem’, informed Canaocna Dy. Collector Madhu Narvekar.
Narvekar speaking to this correspondent informed the situation in Canacona is under control and most of the major disaster areas including the Avem-Khotigao road, the Kudewada-Gaondongrim road and the floodgate blockade on NH66 at Nagarcem are attended, and everything is under control.
