Fondekars furious over repeated water-logging, power cuts

PONDA: Residents of Ponda, a cultural and commercial city about 30 kms from the capital city of Panaji in the tourism state of Goa, are up in arms against the local administration and elected representatives over the frequent water-logging and flooding in several parts of the city during the last one month.

In addition to water-logging and flooding during the monsoon, almost daily power cuts for several hours a day have made life miserable for hundreds of villagers in Ponda and the surrounding areas.

Residents of gated complexes in Ponda are also complaining about frequent power cuts for several hours at a stretch, which in turn interrupt television and internet services as the nodes, junction/distribution boxes, routers, data switches and transmission points require power to function.

While local administration officials, including those from the Ponda Municipal Council (PMC) claim they are doing their best to keep the flood-water drains clean and mud-free to prevent choking and accumulation of water on the roads, the age-old drainage system immediately goes under in the event of heavy showers.

The drainage system is not able to drain out the rain water quickly enough to prevent water-logging and Fondekars have been complaining that flooding has become a regular occurrence during the rains, even in case of moderate rain.

Ramesh R Naik of the Shiroda People’s Forum claimed that the drains by the sides of the roads are insufficient to cater to flood water accumulation. The drains are only sufficient for normal or light rainfall. In the event of a 20 to 30 minute heavy shower, the drains get filled up and dirt and garbage which flows along with the rain water, tends to choke up certain points in the drainage system. The design of the drainage system is faulty. In most places there are no drains at all, he said.

In the first week of July, there were several instances of flooding with huge trees getting uprooted due to the loose soil after heavy rain. In places like Borim and Shiroda, several village houses were damaged as trees fell on them.

A recent landslide earlier this month, near the Bethora junction on the Curti-Borim bypass road brought traffic to a halt for more than an hour, till the authorities were able to clear up the mud, boulders and fallen trees, claims Naik, adding that villagers in Borim were also affected by floods.