Dealing with the fury of the rain gods in Goa

In the olden days, many battles were fought under the cover of Goa’s merciless rains. Only the most resilient won. Goa’s monsoons can be inclement and harsh — ferocious storms can rage from its sea to its forests in the hills, sweeping everything along their path.

It also has another face — a benevolent one that soothes as it pours over fields, orchards, parched earth and on the shores, replenishing the vigour lost in the scorching sun of Goa, and showering economic prosperity in the region.

In the recent past, it’s the not-so-kind face of the that the State has been getting to see. The terms regularly featuring in the review of its rainfall are ‘unseasonal’, ‘early arrival’, ‘very heavy', 'exceptionally heavy’ and ‘above-average’. Pre-monsoon showers have become a norm in the past few years.

This year, between March 1 and May 24, the western coastal State recorded a total rainfall of 436.1 mm — the third highest pre-monsoon rains in 64 years.

Over the last five years or so, the southwesterly winds and monsoon currents started off early from Kerala and reached Goa much before the normal onset date of the monsoon of around June 5, with a standard deviation of eight days.

These unexpected downpours are sending the pre-monsoon activities awry. Unpredicted rains are catching everyone off-guard with inadequate preparedness, causing economic, agricultural and infrastructural havoc.

These unexpected downpours are sending the pre-monsoon awry. Unpredicted rains are catching everyone off-guard with inadequate preparedness, causing economic, and infrastructural havoc.

In 2019, squally rains — violent and unrelenting — blew over Goa, marooning islanders, uprooting trees, causing landslides, flooding low-lying areas and, in general, disrupting its susegad life. The State shuddered as Cyclone Kyarr, racing at a speed of 150 to 180 kmph, rampaged through the Konkan coastal belt.

The Indian Coast Guard and navy were pressed into action to retrieve fishermen stranded at sea and a chemical tanker — loaded with highly inflammable naphtha — that had strayed off the shores of Dona Paula. It was a nerve-wracking monsoon for the tiniest Indian State that year.

The next year (the year Covid-19 broke out), the monsoon season broke its 60-year record with a total rainfall of 162.2 inches or 4117 mm.

The following year, in 2021, Goa experienced its most severe flooding in four decades as heavy rains lashed the shores, swelling its rivers and inundating low-lying areas such as Sattari, Bicholim, , Dharbadora, Bardez and Pernem. 

The following year, in 2021, Goa experienced its most severe flooding in four decades as heavy rains lashed the shores, swelling its rivers and inundating low-lying areas such as Sattari, Bicholim, Ponda, Dharbadora, Bardez and Pernem.

Over 1,000 houses were damaged and people had to be evacuated from affected areas. That year, the State was extremely wet and watery as it received 122 percent above-average rainfall, with some areas recording up to 23 inches of rainfall in a day.

A recent study by the Goa State Action Plan for Change 2023-33 reported that data-crunching of over 117 years revealed 100 percent increase in events of heavy and exceptionally heavy rainfall in Goa.

In fact, the State is already in the midst of -driven phenomena visible in the rising sea level and extreme weather events (EWE). Today, close to 15 percent of Goa’s land, particularly in the coastal areas, is prone to flooding due to these factors.

Goa’s geographical position exposes it to several ‘semi-permanent weather systems’ like the off-shore trough and low-pressure systems during the monsoons, which impact the distribution of rainfall in the western coastal states and other parts of the country. 

Today, close to 15 percent of Goa’s land, particularly in the coastal areas, is prone to flooding due to these factors.

Another factor significantly affecting the distribution of rainfall over Goa is orography — a study of the topographic relief dealing with the mountains. Experts have been pointing to a combination of these factors and climate change for the intense cyclones and very heavy in the State.

Some moves towards addressing the fallouts of climate change have already been initiated. The State government has already put in a request to the Central government for a Rs 1,00-crore fund to develop resilience against extreme weather and to grapple with its impacts.

Some of the plans on the drawing board to deal with erratic and exceptionally high rainfall include building gates to controls flooding, increasing the number of internal waterways to improve drainage systems, restoring lands — fields along the coast — to prevent saline intrusion and flooding, protecting mudflats and riverbanks to reduce erosion and maintaining natural flood barriers.

Other measures that could go a long way in dealing with climate-change-associated flooding are mapping of landslide-prone areas to pinpoint and mitigate risks related with heavy rainfall.

Other measures that could go a long way in dealing with climate-change-associated flooding are mapping of landslide-prone areas to pinpoint and mitigate risks related with heavy rainfall and developing of early warning systems and community preparedness strategies for vulnerable regions.

If the State gets its flood prevention and management right, it would easily be able to better deal with the fury of the rain gods and make them smile upon Goa once again.