Digital Goa, Mar 1 – Rs 119 crore worth Disaster Management infrastructure work partially funded by World Bank, that commenced in 2019 has been completed and the same will be handed over to the State Disaster Management Authority by this month end, informed WRD Chief Engineer Pramod Badami. WRD is the executing authority for the project. 38 early warning towers and 11 multipurpose disaster resilient cyclone shelters have been constructed under the project across Goa. Four components of the project include capacity building, early warning information dissemination systems for vulnerable areas, construction of cyclone shelters and improvement to electrical infrastructure making it resilient to face the cyclone, he added. The 38 early warning towers are connected with GSM and optical fiber and will alert the public through sirens, high beam lights etc about disasters of various types well in advance. The 11 multipurpose cyclone shelters can accommodate upto 500 people and are resilient to various types of disasters including earthquake of 9 Richter scale magnitude. On a pilot basis, underground electrical system resilient to wind speed up to 155 km per hour has been set up at Anjuna under the project.
Incidentally, as per earlier specified terms of agreement between the state and World Bank, the funds would be available as a loan and the government of Goa has to repay this starting from November 2020 up to March 2040. Similarly, 75% of the cost for the cyclone shelters has been funded by WB as a loan —the remaining 25% is to be borne by the state.
