Goa: Normal life has been thrown out of gear in Goa after heavy rain lashed the state for over a week. Several people were stranded at Diwar Island near Panaji due to flooding in the area. Eight buses were stuck near Goa's border with Karnataka due to the heavy rain.

The Goa government has announced a holiday for schools and colleges on Wednesday on account of heavy rains and floods. After meeting Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, Director of Education Nagraj Honnekeri told reporters here that schools and colleges will have a one-day holiday on August 7. 

A local who was stranded at the Diwar Island, posted a video on social media of some water-logged homes on the island. Goa Water Resources Minister Filipe Neri Rodrigues took note and assured people of all possible help.

In the video, Manohar Bhomkar, a resident, said due to breach in the embankment of a nearby river, water gushed into their homes. "There is flood everywhere. We have been stranded for four days," he said in the video.

Diwar Island is located across the Mandovi river near Panaji. Its residents have to use boats to reach the state capital and other places. After heavy rain the state river navigation department suspended ferry service to the Island.

About eight buses carrying several passengers have been left stranded on the Goa-Karnataka border since Monday night due to flooding in the area after heavy rain, an official in the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said.

Chief minister Pramod Sawant conducted a survey of flooded villages in low-lying areas of North Goa and parts of the state capital Panaji. The weather department has forecast heavy to very heavy rainfall in both North Goa and South Goa in the next 24 hours and issued an ''orange alert''.

The government has evacuated people from areas such as Pilgao, Sankhalim and Usgao in North Goa district. Sonal village in Sattari tehsil has been cut off for more than 24 hours due to floods, a government official said.

Fishermen have been advised not to venture into the sea due to the rough weather, though the fisheries department had lifted the ban on fishing in the state on August 1.