Incessant rain throws life out of gear, damages more paddy crops

Panaji: Heavy downpours throughout the day on Wednesday disrupted lives across the state, and also led to the destruction of more paddy crops. Tourists visiting Goa for the Diwali vacation were also affected, with many having to restrict their movements.While no major incident was reported, firefighters were kept busy attending to calls about trees uprooting, electricity poles falling, and two incidents of roofs crashing.While light to medium showers are not uncommon in Goa during Oct, the non-stop rainfall disrupted the plans of several tourists. Shubham Newaskar from Maharashtra, who arrived in Goa on Monday, said that two days of his trip have been wasted so far.“We went to some shacks in Calangute at night, but it was useless,” he said.Pravin Avasare, staying at a mid-budget hotel, said even though it has been raining continuously, Goa is very beautiful. “We had to cancel our plans for water sports, instead, we hired a self-drive car, and went for drives,” he said.The president of the Shack Owners’ Welfare Society, John Lobo, said that the non-stop rain completely spoiled the day for them. “Though there are plenty of tourists vacationing in Goa, few of them were seen on the beaches,” he said. “We had just three to four tables occupied the whole day. Tourists run away once it starts raining. We have two more days before tourists start leaving Goa, but with this kind of rain, I’m doubtful of any business.”At Bodanwada in Saleli, a family of three was saved as none were at home when their roof collapsed. A fire department official said that there were no casualties, but house owner Rajaram Gaonkar suffered an estimated loss of Rs 50,000 due to damage to his roof tiles, rafters, and support beams. “His children and wife had gone to a relative’s house for the holidays. Gaonkar himself was at his workplace when the roof came crashing down,” the official said.A home with mud walls suffered significant damage at Morlem after water caused the mud walls to collapse a bit, exposing the wiring and triggering a short circuit. Fire tenders from Valpoi and Bicholim responded to the incident. The homeowner, Shashikant Kesarkar, said that the losses were significant and he would require time to estimate the losses.Since Saturday, the fire department has attended to 36 incidents of tree falling. On Wednesday, a mango tree fell on a godown near Koteshwar temple, Bicholim. Another tree fell near the electricity department at GMC subway, Bambolim, leading to a traffic jam for some time.