ONUS “Civic authority fails to sense seriousness”

By Kaushik Bhattacharya

As heavy rain pounded Nagpur city in the wee hours of September 23, Aruna Purohit, a social activist and an entrepreneur, was busy winding-up the feast they organised on the occasion of ‘Mahalaxmi Pujan’ at her residence in Ambazari Layout. Heavy rains started around 2 am on September 23, but the Purohit family and their four staff had no idea that flood would follow in just a couple of hours and wreak havoc. “At our residence, we had a get-together. About 250 invitees had gathered at our place on the occasion of Mahalaxmi that night. Around 3 am in the morning, two of our female staff who were sleeping on the ground floor first noticed the flood water entering the house. They immediately informed us. My husband and I took my in-laws, our dogs, and four staff members on the first floor,” said Purohit. After shifting them on the first floor, Aruna Purohit and her husband started collecting all jewellery and silver utensils used in ‘Mahalaxmi Pujan’, from the ground floor. “We lost some silver utensils as it was dark due to power cut. Somehow we managed to collect all jewellery from there,” she told ‘The Hitavada’ while recounting the horror of that night.

A majority of the residents of Ambazari Layout are senior citizens. Due to flood, they got stranded in their residences. In the morning, when the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams came for rescue operation in the colony, Purohit couple urged the NDRF personnel to first rescue the senior citizens alone in their home. Both of them also helped the team to rescue the neighbours. “We never experienced flood in our city. We were scared of the flow of water entering into our house. The ground floor of our house was completely under water that night and everything including our three cars, furniture, etc got submerged. Even the Ganesh idol also was awash,” Purohit said. Asked about the role of administration in providing relief to the flood victims, Purohit said, “The compensation of Rs 10,000/- is just peanuts compared to the loss we have incurred due to flood. Another major concern I wish to raise is the greed of service providers even in times of crisis. After the flood incident, all service providers in the city increased their charges, leaving the victims in lurch. For example, when we tried the service providers for cleaning of the house, they quoted exorbitant charges.”

The Government or the administration should issue some notification to service providers to provide relief to flood victims in this situation. But, in this regard, no help was available so far from anyone, she alleged. “Everyone tried to charge extra from us in the name of services. It was very shameful that service providers were charging hefty amounts from pensioners also who were unable to pay high charges for cleaning of house and repair of furniture and appliances after such a disaster,” Purohit said. She also mentioned about two previous flood-like situations they faced in Ambazari Layout, which is situated beside Naag river.

“We are living in this colony for many decades. Around 18 years ago, we had witnessed waterlogging here for the first time due to heavy rains. The administration cited improper pre-monsoon cleaning of Naag river, as the reason behind waterlogging. Seven/eight years ago, we faced waterlogging again. That time also, the civic body offered the same excuse as it did previously. But, this year, it was a flood and the civic body should take responsibility of this disaster,” Purohit observed. On September 23, everyone was helpless. People were hungry till 3 pm. They had no water to drink, no electricity, and nothing to do except wait for any help. Though it was a natural disaster, the administration should take its responsibility and act swiftly to provide some relief to the victims, Purohit expected. Purohit family stands as a representative of the other victims of flood. There are some other shades also to the story.