File photo of Inundation of Benaulim in the July 2022 flooding.
MARGAO
The 2022 Benaulim flooding report compiled by the Water Resources Department (WRD) had brought to the fore a pertinent question every Benaulikar had been raising over the years -- – if the 2022 flood waters had left houses and roads in Benaulim and Comba in neighbouring Margao inundated in the absence of the western bypass, the situation will become complex and may result in more worst conditions after completion of the western bypass.
This important observation was contained in the WRD’s flood risk assessment report as the team had come across flooding along the low lying areas from wholesale fish market, Seraulim to Mercaddo mall at Karle Villa, Khareband.
The team had found the kachha service road constructed for western by-pass, besides the houses were completely submerged during inspection conducted on July 5 last. ded at 12.30 pm on July 5.
During inspection, it was noticed that the water was almost 1.5 mtr to 2 mtr depth at the Tolleaband water body.
That’s not all. The inspection team found that the flood water inundated agricultural fields around a kilometre away from the river in Seraulim village, leaving the standing crops damaged. Residents of Seraulim had at the gram sabha held on last Sunday had rooted for the construction of the western bypass on stilts in neighbouring Benaulim on the ground that water logging at Benaulim would only leave Seraulim agricultural fields inundated.
In fact, WRD Assistant engineer Sainath Jamakhandi had concluded in the report there’s a high possibility of flood waters rising at a magnified level in the future if the Western bypass is constructed on embankment filling between the Mungul railway bridge and the Benaulim-Varca road.
Incidentally, the Water Resources Department in another report in 2019 had called for putting up an “alternate system in place to keep alive and continue the agriculture activities since water bodies (ponds/tanks) are likely to be damaged permanently by the bypass construction”.
