Goa: Paroda bridge submerged after Kushavati overflows

QUEPEM: Kushavati breached its banks at the usual spot, for the first time this monsoon, on Sunday.
The water level in Kushavati started rising on Saturday night after heavy rainfall till Sunday morning.
The bridge that links Avedem-Cotombi to the Margao-Quepem road was submerged on Saturday night. An area of Paroda from the bridge to the Parvat road junction, about one km to the west, was also flooded.
Traffic from Margao to Quepem, Curchorem and Sanguem was diverted through Chandor till Sunday morning.
Some villagers risked their lives retrieving coconuts floating on the water over the bridge.
Since a part of the bridge comes under Avedem-Cotombi-Chaifi, the panchayat had passed a resolution a few years ago to construct a new bridge, around 200m away from the existing one.
“The resolution was taken under the disaster management committee. The government had sanctioned the amount for its construction, but the money was diverted due to floods in Canacona and the new bridge remains a dream,” sarpanch Alelluiah Afonso said.
“Then chief minister Manohar Parrikar had inspected the submerged bridge and had assured us that a new bridge would be built at the same site, but at a higher level. However, nothing has happened till date,” Afonso said.
The Paroda bridge was built post-Liberation during Dayanand Bandodkar’s first three-member ministry’s tenure.