Mutha canal breach hits residents hard

Mutha canal breach hits residents hard

Pune: Tajjudin Sheikh stood along the footpath with a gloomy smile and sadness in his eyes and showed the only wall that remains where once his home and shop stood. 

“Many people are complaining that their valuable things have been washed away. But they at least have three walls. I have nothing,” said Sheikh. Such stories are not rare after the minim floods that damaged homes of over 300 families near Dandekar Bridge slums on Thursday.

After the water receded on Friday, the residents went back to what was left with the horrors of losing everything they had.

Sheikh also said that his small electrical shop named Salim Electricals had equipment worth Rs 9 lakh.

“I have suffered a loss of Rs 9 lakh as everything has been washed away. I have three loans from three different banks. The question is how will I pay the three EMIs next month when right now I do not even have a pair of clothes to change into?” said Sheikh. 

On Thursday, after the water started to gush in, he ran from his home holding his three-week-old granddaughter in his hands. Whereas his neighbours carried his daughter who had delivered the baby as she could not walk by herself.

“My daughter was home for the delivery. And this unfortunate thing happened. Luckily both my sons were out to school when this happened. We stayed at Raosaheb Patwardhan School on Thursday night. There was food given to us but it was not distributed properly. Also, the organisation distributing water was not doing their job properly. The water bottles were distributed only on the roads and not inside the school,” added Sheikh.

He also added that the school premise was full of mosquitoes. “I fear for my granddaughter. She is just three weeks old,” sighed Sheikh.

Sharing similar incidents, another resident Umesh Walke said that they were busy clearing the mud from their homes.

“Many of us were at the school. However, we stayed at our neighbour’s place. But our house was under water for over 12 hours. All the furniture is damaged. Many of the neighbours have cut the furniture into small pieces as it cannot be used again,” said Walke.

He added that his sons were in the school when the incident happened. “So everything they did not take is now wasted including their school books and uniform,” said Walke.

He further added that these damages can be somehow managed. “We invest in things like television and fridge and now they have all suffered damaged. We have to rebuild our lives again,” he said.

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