It happens every year. The monsoons in Goa are definitely something to behold. The sky turns shades of gray and sometimes even black. The pastoral scene changes from sunny to gloomy but still has brilliant shades of green. The fields disappear underwater, only to surface after the rainy season is over. Of course, now with all the road work going on all over the city, it’s not just the fields that disappear in the monsoons. Part of the city seem to have also sunk below the water after last night’s heavy rainfall.
A city underwater
The city of Panjim is certainly bearing the brunt of the monsoons. There’s flooding not just in the city area but even on the outskirts. Most roads leading into the city area completely underwater. As a result, cars cannot move and car owners are possibly facing flooding inside their cars.
The roads are underwater despite the Corporation of the City of Panjim (CCP)’s cleaning of drains pre-monsoon. Construction work on the new Mandovi bridge is also a major reason for the flooding in the Patto area. In Panjim, the drains are not just clogged with the debris coming down the hills of Dona Paula and Altinho but all the plastic and paper waste that goes unchecked.
18th June road, Goa’s main shopping area was completely underwater as of this morning. Office goers have even shared pictures of the water-logging. It’s difficult to tell where the road ends and where the pavement begins.
Miramar, part of Panjim and also a well-known spot for tourists to flock to, disappeared underwater after one night of heavy rain. Check out the image below of in one of Miramar’s neighborhoods.
Locals talk about the the flooding in Panjim
We gathered a few quotes from a few locals about Panjim being underwater. Here’s what they had to say.
A female resident of Lake View, Miramar says she wanted to go to Taleigao. “I decided to drive down the Caculo Mall road and take the new road to Taleigao from Tonca. I finished my work in Taleigao and started driving back to Miramar. However, I drove towards St. Inez on the way back to get to the Caculo Mall junction. I reached Expert Chemists and saw that there was a traffic jam because of the flood. So I turned left just after that and made the mistake of attempting to drive past the canal. To my horror, the road and canal were one. I managed to turn around and drive towards to the St. Inez cemetery and come all the way around just to get to my home in Miramar.” In short, this lady has driven all over just to get home thanks to the flooding in Miramar alone.
People have also taken to social media to vent.
Anish Albuquerque, a resident of Tonca had this to say. “Have been reading excuses that Panjim has been flooding for decades… Not to blame the administration. With systematic blocking of drains… gutters and drains leading to dead ends .. Poor road engineering.. Haphazard infrastructure works.. What do you expect..?33 years lived in Panjim. Roads which never flooded have started flooding.At least come up with a Good excuse…GLOBAL WARMING!”
Another former resident of Miramar was equally vocal. “When you block every natural passage to the sea with so called “infrastructure development” where is the water to go. And when roads are built they are done so in poor quality and the drainage blocked by of all things…..leaves. No wonder the day nature strikes back in a big way….drainage will be blocked by us people being washed away.”
DJ Joel Nunes from Miramar, decided keep a sense of humor about him and posted this status update to Facebook. “Anyone wants to join me Scuba diving in Miramar… Need to find my car.”
The video below shows the main road from Panjim to Miramar. This particular stretch is outside the Fortune hotel in Miramar.
Bambolim, which isn’t a part of Panjim city, was also completely flooded. Keeping in mind that this is a plateau, check out the video below.
https://www.facebook.com/mark.george.12/videos/2010085275692123/
Image credit – Photos and videos have been contributed by Goan residents from all over Panjim
ItsGoa/JULY/KDGP
