Natural hazards and other related aspects of Goa

Natural hazards and other related aspects of Goa

The natural disasters directly impact economies, agriculture, food security, water, sanitation, the environment and health each year.
Therefore it is one of the single largest concerns for most of the developing nations.
Different natural hazards because varying levels of physical damage to infrastructure and agriculture with implications for their indirect and secondary impacts.
Drought causes heavy Crop and Livestock losses over wide areas of land but typically leave infrastructure and productive capacity largely unaffected.
Floods and Cyclones cause extensive whereas damage to both infrastructure and agriculture, depending on their timing relative to the agricultural cycle.
While earthquakes have little impact on standing crops excluding localized losses but can cause wide spread devastation of infrastructure and other productive capacity over relatively large areas.
The precise cost of the disaster in terms of loss of lives, property, loss of development opportunities, etc. cannot be clearly assessed, counted or scaled.
The costs of disaster are clearly inequitable, falling heavily only on the few. Disasters result not only in loss of shelter but also create hardships, lack of food availability, and temporary loss of livelihood and disrupt socio-economic activities.
Some of the losses may be redeemable and compensated for through disaster relief and insurance.
However, apart from economic dimension, such disturbances have their psychological and social dimensions as well, which need to be studied, and documented besides developing.

Types of Disasters

Due to the increasing frequency of natural and man-made disasters and their severe impact on the individuals, society, economy, natural resources and environment, Government of India constituted a High Powered Committee (HPC) on Disaster Management in August 1999 to prepare comprehensive plans for National, State and District levels.
The HPC has rightly stressed on the need for a comprehensive and holistic approach towards dealing with all kinds of disasters.
From a compartmentalized response oriented approach, a coordinated, holistic and participatory approach has been recommended.
HPC identified thirty one disasters in the country.
These disasters have been categorized into following five sub-groups depending on generic (origin) considerations and various departments/ ministries dealing with various aspects:

Water and Climate Related Disasters –
Floods and Drainage Management,
Cyclones,
Tornadoes and Hurricanes,
Hailstorm,
Cloud Burst,
Heat Wave and Cold Wave,
Snow Avalanches,
Droughts,
Sea Erosion
Thunder and Lightning.
Geology Related Disasters
Landslides and Mudflows,
Earthquakes,
Dam Failures/ Dam Bursts
Mine Fires
Chemical , Industrial & Nuclear related disasters
Chemical and industrial
Nuclear disasters
Accident related disasters
Forest Fires,
Urban Fires,
Mines Flooding Oil Spill,
Major Building Collapse
Serial Bomb Blasts
Festival related disasters
Electrical disasters and Fires
Air, Road and Rail Accidents
Boat Capsizing
Village Fire
Biologically Related disasters
Epidemics
Pest Attacks
Cattle epidemics
Food poisoning

Disaster Risk Profile of Goa

Two types of disasters are being experienced by the State i.e.

Natural Disaster like Earthquake, Floods / Heavy rains, Cyclones, Landslides, Tsunami
Manmade Disaster like Oil spill in the Sea / Land, Gas leakage, Explosives, Mine collapse, etc.

South Goa District is comparatively safer District in terms of human and property loss in disasters.
The disasters caused in South Goa are mainly floods, landslides, accidents, fire to markets, property and crops, gas leak and cyclonic winds and tree fallings.

Vulnerability to Earthquakes

Goa falls in seismic zone IV that indicates that Goa has high probability for occurrence of earthquakes.
Goa forms part of the moderate seismic zone in the country, namely, Zone IV of seismic zoning map of India.
Historically Goa has not directly witnessed any earthquake it was affected by tremors from devastating earthquakes from neighboring state.
Although Goa has not witnessed earthquakes directly, the tremors of the devastating earthquakes with magnitude 5.0 or more that hitted “Koyana” and “Latur” in Maharashtra in the year 1967 and 1993 respectively, affected the routine life of the people in Goa as many of the residential as well as public structures, infrastructures were damaged severely, although no casualties were taken place.
Earthquake Disaster Vulnerability of North Goa- Although the vulnerability is low, towns are more at risk than rural areas due to higher density of population.
Another concern is the large numbers of building both private and public have been constructed without proper earthquake resistance features.
Goa being a tourist location has a number of heritage sites (No. of listed heritage buildings is 431 as per Town and Country Planning Department Notification) that need to be made earthquake resistant.

Vulnerability to Landslides

Landslides are another common disaster experienced.
Usually the landslides occur at the sites that are disturbed by human activities.
Though the landslides are reported in forests lands it has less concerned than the one in settlement area thereby putting the human life at stake.
Geologists have opined that the reckless hill cutting in the most unscientific manner results in landslides.
When proper gradient is not maintained the inter-locking of the boulders and the hold of the soil loosens resulting into sliding of the boulders, erosion of soil and uprooting of the trees.
And the structures that are within the purview are destroyed.
The worst affected is the life and property, but what also gets disturbed is the pure drinking water, power supply, telecommunication, and if the landslide occurs during the monsoon then there is a fear of spread of epidemics.
The landslide that took place on Mapusa – Panaji NH-17 during the monsoon, 2007 was of high severity as the vehicular traffic on this road was obstructed almost for a month.

Vulnerability to cyclones

Tropical cyclones are considered to be the worst among all the natural hazards when viewed in terms of their severity, frequency of occurrence and areas of destruction.
It is noted that severe cyclones cause colossal damage not only to non-engineered buildings such as thatched roofs, tiled houses, etc., but also inflict heavy damage to semi-engineered buildings such as school, work shop buildings, factory buildings, etc. and also to well-engineered structures including communication towers and wind mill towers etc.
An important aspect of cyclone risk reduction is to ensure availability of adequate numbers of shelters, community centers/school buildings, places of worship etc
Both the areas along coastline and interior regions can be affected by gusty winds which can cause damage to property, damage to crops, collapse of trees and in turn threatening lives of people including fishermen, livestock, ships and barges, boats, ships, fishing trawlers at ports.
If cyclonic winds are accompanied by heavy rainfall then there is possibility of flooding in low lying areas, in Goa.

Vulnerability to floods

The North Goa district had not experienced any major floods in past few years, except in 2000 at Bicholim; 2005 at Mala, Panaji and Bicholim and in 2007 also in Bicholim due to verflowing of rivulet, causing no major casualties but causing heavy damages to the properties.
As far as North Goa District is concerned, there are 3 main rivers viz. Terekhol, Chapora and Mandovi, besides one minor river Baga.
The river Mandovi has 10 tributaries viz. Madei, Surla, Kotrachi, Ragda, Khandepar, Kudnem, Valvanta, Bicholim, Assonora and Sinker. Bicholim and Sattari Talukas are mainly affected due to floods due to River Valvonti, whereas the other Talukas of Tiswadi, Bardez, Pernem and Ponda are flooded either due to low lying areas or due to temporary rise in water level of nearby rivulets.
In villages the natural course of stream, nallah etc. is blocked due to slit, trees, and other debris thereby causing rise in flowing water and inundating the low lying area wherein the localities gets cut off from rest of the World.
Apart from the property loss what is of more concern is the probability of spreading of epidemics and other water borne diseases.
The cause and effect of the floods though are devastating, can be controlled to reduce the loss, if not eliminate this disaster.

Vulnerability to accidents

Bomb blast and other acts of sabotage:- Terrorists/Antisocial elements target the crowded areas for such acts. Airport at Chicalim, Railway Station in Margao, Vasco-da-Gama, main markets in Margao, Vasco-da- Gama and market area of the Talukas.
Industrial accident: – The major industries in Goa have already prepared their on- site emergency plan. The District Administrator has prepared offsite emergency plan. Causes of the disaster and measures to be taken for prevention of disaster by Government Departments and local bodies.
Accidents, which include road accidents, railway accidents, air crash, industrial accidents, and boat capsize is another major disaster in Goa. This disaster is not phenomenon and season based but can occur any time in the year. Basically these disasters are absolutely manageable and avoidable. The primary reasons for these disasters are non-compliance of rules and norms by the public at large and enforcing concerned Departments in particular
Oil Spill in the Sea / Land- No major incidents of oil spillage were reported in North Goa District, except in the year 2005, such incident had taken place on 23/03/2005 due to spillage of oil from M/V. Maritime Wisdom anchored at Panaji Port and as a result the beaches at Vagator, Anjuna, Baga, Calangute, Candolim and Sinquerim were polluted, thereby posing danger to the Marine life beach goers. However, preventive measures were taken by the Captain of Ports with the assistance of Coastal Guards.

Vulnerability to Chemical Disasters

In Goa however transport accidents are quite frequent, though no statistics were available with the Government of Goa to validate these claims.
However there have been rare casualties that have occurred due to the accidents of the Hazchem vehicles, for instance an accident that occurred in 1992-93 wherein a Hazchem tanker carrying Chlorine met with an accident leading to a leakage of the toxic gas and affecting some residents who were around the place of the accident including the fire fighting personnel who had to be hospitalized.
There has also been an instance where in a tanker fell into a field that was being cultivated and as a result of the leakage of the Chemical which was corrosive in nature the land became infertile for cultivation.
In North Goa till date no Major Chemical Accident has been reported to the Inspectorate of Factories and Boilers from the MAH units.

Vulnerability to Soil Erosion

Coastal erosion, or coastal instability, threatens property and businesses and puts people living near cliffs and shorelines at risk.
The great concentration of national resources in coastal zones makes it imperative that coastal change is well understood.
Along the coastline of Goa, sea /coastal erosion has been observed on the beaches Siolim, DonaPaula, Anjuna beach.
According to a study by the National Institute of Oceanography, the beach along the Candolim-Sinquerim coast has been affected by erosion due to the grounded super tanker M.V. River Princess

Vulnerability to Tsunami

As far as the North Goa District is concerned, the coastal belt was not recorded any Tsunami in the past.
However, the Tsunami of 26th December, 2006 in the Bay of Bengal had caused after effects in the sea and rivers.
No loss of lives or damages to the properties was reported, except some vessels in the sea were reported to have been damaged.

Goa State Disaster Management Authority

The Government has constituted Goa Disaster Management Authority which shall comprise of the following:

Chief Minister … Chairperson–Ex-Officio
Chief Secretary … Member – Ex-Officio
Secretary (Revenue) … Member
Collector (North) … Member
Collector (South) … Member
Director of Fire & Emergency Services … Member
Director General of Police … Member
Principal Chief Engineer (P.W.D.) … Member
Chief Engineer (Water Resources) … Member
Chief Engineer (Electricity) … Member

Goa District Disaster Management Authority

The Government in terms of Section 25 of The Disaster Management Act 2005 constituted District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) for North Goa District under the Chairmanship of District Collector to evaluate the disaster preparedness for different types of calamities that may occur from time to time, with primary aim to take stock of the situation, monitors routine preparedness, suggest improvements in the response mechanism and to formulate a comprehensive District Disaster Management Plan for North Goa District.
The DDMA is the apex planning body at the district level and will play a major role in disaster preparedness and mitigation.

The DDMA has the primary responsibility of:

Reviewing the threat of disasters
Vulnerability of the district to different disasters
Evacuation process to reduce risk and emergency response
Considering suggestions for improvement of the DDMP
To educate the public on different flood and cyclone hazards
To disseminate information about the protective steps, Dos& Don’ts To make arrangements for emergency action
To effect evacuation from the affected areas if necessary.
Search and Rescue Operations
Immediate mitigation and Relief Measures
Overall rehabilitation strategies and effort
Post disaster action and review