By IANS,
Panaji : Goa Science and Technology Minister Churchill Alemao Thursday said the floods that ravaged the southern parts of the state were caused by a ‘mini tsunami’ in the Arabian Sea.
“It was a mini tsunami. There was so much underwater current and the water levels rose to 6 meters and then subsided in no time. It cannot be anything else,” Alemao said during a post cabinet briefing here.
The official estimate of the losses in Canacona of South Goa due to the floods is at Rs.131 crore.
Earlier addressing the reporters, Chief Minister Digambar Kamat said cabinet ministers have resolved to donate their two months’ salary to the chief minister’s relief fund to aid the flood relief measures.
“We have also met members of the Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Confederation of Indian Industry, who have also promised to assist the government in the rebuilding process,” Kamat said.
The chief minister said the water resources department had borne the biggest brunt of the floods.
“Dams and check dams worth Rs.48 crore have been damaged. The agriculture sector suffered damages worth nearly Rs.18 crore,” Kamat said.
The chief minister is to leave for Delhi later Thursday to meet Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram and inform him of the relief measures taken by the state government.