Fearing an Ockhi, shacks move deck beds, furniture to safety

PANAJI/MAPUSA/MARGAO: The sea levels surged higher on Monday than the last two stormy days, swamping beach beds and rattling traditional shacks, as tourism activities were thrown out of gear and stakeholders suffered some losses, especially in North Goa.
The storm surge covered the coastline across Goa, as the high tide rose 1.95m at 5.44pm on Monday.

But, water driven by rough sea and windy conditions kept rising till 7pm, rushing through shacks in Keri, Morjim, Anjuna, Candolim and other places, as shack operators were reminded of the storm of early December 2017.

“The beach beds were the first to be flooded, causing some anxiety among shack operators,” a tourism stakeholder in Morjim said. India meteorological department (IMD), Panaji, had issued a high wave alert following inputs by Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), Hyderabad, about the storm surge for two days on April 21 and 22. But on Sunday, the agency extended the warning by two more days till Tuesday.

Tourism stakeholders were taken by surprise on the third day as the initial two days had passed off uneventfully. “The water entered the shacks on Monday. The shack basements were damaged as flooding occurred for two hours as against half hour on Sunday and our business suffered,” said Wilson Monteiro, a shack owner from Arambol.

Suspending their business, the shack owners and their workers were busy retrieving their furniture and clearing equipment and accessories. They also had to evacuate their customers and take the beach beds to safety.

The December 2017 event had caused damage along Goa’s coastline to the tune of Rs 30 lakh, as estimated by the government.

The Drishti Marine lifeguards kept issuing warnings to tourists and locals who prefer a summer bath but some of them did not pay heed and ventured into the water for a dip.

Watersports activities have been completely stopped for the last three days after the high wave alert by government agencies.

In South Goa, many shack owners have dismantled their shacks. “The water level rose on Sunday but we have already dismantled our shacks,” Edwin Barreto, a Cavelossim shack owner said. The ramponkars had anchored their fishing vessels in the sea.

“But due to prior warning, they hauled them up,” Navidade D’Costa, a Cavelossim resident said.

A Colva-based stakeholder also said that there were no damages due to timely warning. But the season has been bad due to cyclone Ockhi and the taxi operators strike, they said.