Heavy rains continue in Goa, fishermen asked to keep off sea

Heavy rains continued to pound Goa for the third consecutive day on Friday, throwing life out of gear with no immediate respite in sight.

The Indian Meteorological Department's (IMD) Goa observatory also issued a fresh warning and advised tourists to stay indoors and asked fishermen to avoid venturing into the sea in view of bad weather conditions.

The IMD centre in Mumbai said the cyclonic storm "Kyarr" is likely to bring gale winds in coastal Maharashtra and Goa.

"Squally wind speed reaching 55-65 kmph gusting to 75 kmph is likely to prevail along and off Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Raigad districts of Maharashtra as well as Goa," it said.

Several roads, including parts of the highway connecting Canacona to Margao in South Goa, were submerged.

A road at Gudi village in South Goa, 15km from Margao, and several stretches in Verna Industrial Estate were waterlogged due to heavy downpour.

A senior official from the Fire and Emergency Services claimed they had received over 50 calls from different parts of the state since Thursday night to clear uprooted trees from roads.

Water level of the Mandovi river has been rising, restricting the movement of people to and fro the islands of Chorao and Diwar, located across the river near Panaji, an official said.

"In view of the rising water level of the Mandovi River, we have temporarily discontinued ferry services from these islands to the mainland," a senior official from the River and Navigation Department said.