27 July,2021 07:33 AM IST | Mumbai | Bakulesh Trivedi
The market area at Bazarpeth, Chiplun, after the flood; (right) Ganesh Redij
Ganesh Redij spent two days in his flooded shop in Chiplun without food or drinking water. As rain poured, he went to his grocery shop on Wednesday to put his stock on the upper floor, but by the time he was done, water level had started increasing. He stayed back, but by next morning, he found himself in neck-deep floodwater.
Redij's shop is located in the Bazarpeth area of Chiplun, where 149 people were killed in a flood and 64 others are still missing. The floodwater started rising rapidly in the city, as Shiv and Vashishti rivers began overflowing following intense rainfall.
Speaking to mid-day about the horrifying incident, Redij said, "On Wednesday night, as it started raining, I feared water would enter my shop, so I rushed there to shift food grains and other grocery items to the upper floor. My shop is 16 feet in height, including the top floor of four feet."
"Suddenly, rainwater started entering my shop and soon the ground floor was flooded. I realised that it was now impossible to return home, so I decided to stay back and took shelter on the upper floor. As it rained all night, water reached the upper floor by Thursday morning. By 5 am, the floodwater was till my waist and in no time, I was in neck-deep water.
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Redij said he saw rats and cockroaches in the water around him, trying to survive. "Only my face was out of water. I was feeling weak as I hadn't eaten for the past 24 hours. I was scared and as the area was completely flooded I knew no help was coming. I started praying."
The shop owner added that on Friday, as rain started to slow down, he thought there was still hope that he would live. "I was finally able to come out of my shop in the evening, after almost two days. All my goods had washed away, but I was saved." Redij said that the 2005 flood had caused much less destruction. The floodwater in the area had risen by just 1.5 feet then, he added.
Redij said he lost his goods worth around Rs 15 lakh and does not hope to get any insurance cover. During the 2005 flood, the insurance company had refused to pay for the damage, claiming it covers only theft, he added.
He said Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray visited the area on Sunday to assess the loss, but the municipal corporation had cleared the roads before his visit. "Officials pretended as if there was no massive flooding and no destruction of properties. But, even today, we are clearing mud and filth from our shops. They are stinking. All our goods have been destroyed."
"We had even informed the municipal corporation to come and collect all the waste material, but it said there was no vehicle available now."
