PANAJI
Heavy rains with gusty winds kept pounding Goa, stretching the extremely wet spell to 15 days even as a 19-year-old girl who suffered injuries when a tree branch along the Garca de Orta garden fell on her on Sunday morning died later in the day at Goa Medical College and Hospital.
Heavy rains lashed the State for the 15th consecutive day since July 7 taking the seasonal total past the 100-inch mark, a good 60 per cent surplus of the State's total average rainfall.
IMD officials said, it could be a new record of rainfall for July this year as the past fortnight has seen several days of more than 100 mm daily rainfall.
The IMD has extended the 5-day orange alert issued yesterday by one more day until July 25.
Meanwhile, in a tragic incident in the capital, the branch of a roadside tree along the Garcia de Orta garden snapped and fell on Betim resident Aarti Gond, critically injuring her. The teenager succumbed to these injuries at the GMCH later in the evening.
Gond was riding her bike along the road between the Jesuit House and the municipal garden headed towards the Panaji Church Square when the tragedy occurred.
Eye-witness accounts said she was hit on her head by the falling branch and suffered grievous injuries and was attended to by paramedics of the 108 Ambulance service before being shifted to the GMCH.
She had been residing with her family in Betim for several years and is a native from Uttar Pradesh.
This is the second such serious incident of trees falling in the Church Square area which is dotted by several rain trees. Earlier last week on Friday, a huge tree got uprooted and fell on a parked car whose occupants had a narrow escape.
The IMD, meanwhile, recorded the highest 24-hour rainfall at its Ella-Old Goa rain gauge station at 82 mm followed by the Panaji rain gauge station which reported 75.4 mm and Sanguem with 71 mm.
The rain gauge stations at Mapusa and Canacona recorded the least 24-hour rainfall at just 30.2 mm.
