Goemkarponn desk
VALPOI: The flash floods in Sattari taluka have caused massive destruction to the locals and infrastructure.
Locals say they have never seen such a situation for the last six decades.
Many houses have collapsed, water has inundated houses, roads, bridges have collapsed, roads have caved in.
Why was the disaster management team not ready when the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) gave several warnings of heavy rains and thunderstorms?
Why did the government machinery not anticipate such a situation and get ready as the rains have been pouring for over two weeks now?
Isn’t this sheer negligence by the administration?
Mhadei, the lifeline of Goa, has never crossed its limit in the last 60 years, locals say. But this year, the river seems to be relentless.
The water level was slowly rising since Thursday evening and hence the government needed to take this matter seriously and issue an alert.
It was necessary to alert the people living along this river and move them to safer places.
Thursday night itself turned out to be very dangerous for Sattari taluka. Many of the villages along the river were flooded, and the asleep citizens suddenly woke up in the water.
However, on Friday morning, the situation was out of control in many places of Sattari taluka.
Meanwhile, let’s think about the administrative system of the state of Goa. It is clear from the discussion of the general public that this system has failed completely this year as well.
Due to past floods, a control room has been set up. However, it has been revealed that this cell is almost defunct.
This raises the question what is the very objective of this control room.
However, it was essential for the control room to alert the citizens and provide help in critical situations.
How the water rose??
Questions are also being raised on many levels as to how the waters of the Mhadei River rose.
Heavy rains have lashed the area for several years, and experts said such a situation has never arisen.
Water Resources Department said that heavy rains fell in the hilly areas of Karnataka and Maharashtra.
This is said to have led to a massive increase in the flow of river water. Still, it also raises another question: such a situation has never arisen in the last 60 years, despite heavy rainfall in the area.
Due to this, water flow in the Kalsa-Bhandura nallah in the Karnataka region has increased tremendously. The possibility of discharge of this water into the Mhadei river cannot be ruled out.
Box
Floods in Sattari are man made: Kerkar
Goemakrponn desk
KERI: Environmentalist Rajendra Kerkar attributed the current rise in Mhadei water due to monoculture and deforestation.
Kerkar, speaking to Goemkarponn, said that floods are basically man-made disasters.
“Many Goans have built farmhouses in Virdi village in Maharashtra causing massive deforestation and monoculture. Several plantations and plants like Sherni, which reduce water flow, have been destroyed,” he said.