This story is from July 26, 2019

Behind Panaji floods: Failure to connect drains, choked creeks

Behind Panaji floods: Failure to connect drains, choked creeks
PANAJI: Four primary drains that empty its water into the Mandovi, two creeks that have tidal engineering and a city above the flood level with a grid iron pattern all made Panaji an ideal place that would never have had to face flooding. (See map on Page 2)
But years of neglect leading to the creeks—St Inez and Rua de Ourem—getting choked with silt and garbage and lack of connectivity between the secondary and tertiary drains with the primary ones, built during the pre-Liberation era, has seen Panaji going under water during the rains.

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“The arterial drains (primary) done during the pre-Liberation times were the spine, which took the entire storm water of four months of monsoon to the Mandovi. Today, they still exist, but they need to be connected with the drains that were built during post-Liberation (secondary) and for the internal streets (tertiary) to sort out the flooding problem. They are the arteries and veins of the city,” said Manguesh Prabhugaonker, chairman of the Goa chapter of the Indian Institute of Architects.
“You cannot ignore and do something new,” he said.
‘Immediate need for course correction because we have blocked flow of water’
Besides, the creeks that have tidal engineering—during high tide the water flows into the creek and during low tide, it flows out—ensured natural sustainable flushing without any mechanised pumps. But today these creeks are filled with silt and garbage, leaving hardly any space for the natural flow of water.

“There has to be a proper corrective measure, which has to be done immediately so that the old drains which existed come as a saviour to salvage the city,” said Prabhugaonker.
But experts also rue the fact that various agencies involved in ensuring that the city is safe from floods are working at cross-purposes. “Holistically, there is no coordination between the CCP, PWD, WRD, GSIDC, sewerage department and fire services. They all cannot work on different tangents. They must come together on one page and handle it,” he said.
There are also complaints that when the DB Road was done up in 2004, the storm water drains were ignored.
“The storm water drains were cut off at the service road at Campal and new drains were built, but not linked to the old ones. This is completely bad engineering. To have waterlogging on DB Road is silly because it is so close to the river,” Patricia Pinto, former CCP councilor, said.
“We don’t know the status of this drain today because the PWD cannot open it as the road was tarred,” said Surendra Furtado, former mayor and CCP councilor.
Furtado said the PWD has prepared an estimate of Rs 1.5 crore for a drain from Miramar Circle till the SAG. We will have to go for a big drain. Then the area will not be flooded,” he said.
Prabhugaonker reckons no new drains are needed. Four primary drains—Boca de Vaca to Military Point, AB Road to Ferry Point, Church Square to Fisheries Department and Church Square to Adil Shah Palace—can be connected with the drains that were built post-liberation to release the water.
“The entire water from Miramar Circle has to be channelised through the central road and it has to come to a point where the SAG swimming pool at Campal has an existing drain near the Campal Ganesh shrine. This connects to the St Inez creek,” said Prabhugaonker.
He said if that drain is opened up, half the problems of the primary drain would be solved. “The secondary one is from La Campala and Lake View colonies, where the water is supposed to the go out towards the creek side. These also must be linked via the drain towards Campal Ganesh shrine storm water drain,” he said.
With the catchment areas around Taleigao and Bhatulem surviving purely on the two creeks for storm water management, cleaning these creeks should be high on the priority list of the authorities.
Water from the old Goa Medical College up to Campal goes into St Inez creek and that in parts of Mala and Fontainhas goes into Rua de Ourem. All the drains are diverted naturally towards the Mandovi.
With the Altinho hill in the middle, the city was strategically located with St Inez creek on one side and Rua de Ourem on the other side, making it perfect for the rainwater to exit the city through either creek. With grid iron pattern in which streets run at right angles to each other, it allows smooth flow of water through main drains or primary drains, sub-mains or secondary drains and branch lines or tertiary drains.
An official, who has been connected with the city’s development, said there was an immediate need for a course correction, “because we have blocked the flow of the water”. This is the first thing the authorities must do, he said.
“The second objective would be to dredge St Inez creek and clear the existing storm water drains. Panaji’s old drainage network needs to be upgraded and newer drains are required,” he said.
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