08 August,2014 01:59 AM IST | | Niranjan Medhekar
Having lost his wife and 10-month-old son, Namdeo Pote feels nothing but pain and bitterness towards his hometown
Namdeo Pote
Twenty seven-year-old Namdeo Pote and his wife Kanchan were busy making grand plans for the future of their 10-month-old son, Aditya. But he could never have anticipated that it would all be taken away from him when a landslide struck his hometown, Malin.
He lost it all: Namdeo Pote vows he will never return to his hometown where he lost all his closest family members, including his wife and 10-month-old son. On the day of the landslide, Pote went out with his friends to check how high the local river Bubra had risen, following non-stop rainfall since the previous day. His trip to the river saved Pote from being crushed under the landslide, but his wife, son, mother and brother had all been trapped in the debris
Namdeo lived and worked in Mumbai, and had hoped to move his wife and son there soon. He had gone to Malin to visit his family while on leave from work.
On the day of the landslide, Namdeo went out with his friends to check how high the local river Bubra had risen, following non-stop rainfall since the previous day. His trip to the river saved Namdeo from being crushed under the landslide, but his wife, son, mother and brother had all been trapped in the debris.
"I had planned to shift my wife and son to my flat in Badlapur after celebrating his first birthday in our village. But all my dreams were crushed by the landslide," he said, struggling to speak about his loss eight days after the disaster.
âI will soon leave for Mumbai, and will never come back to Malin in my lifetime," vowed Namdeo, who is currently residing at an ashramshala in Asane village, waiting to complete the tenth-day funeral rites for his family, as well as deal with other formalities with the government.
"Fortunately I have a job, and can be sure that I never have to return to this village. But there are many young boys and girls here who have not even completed their education and are the only survivors from their families. The government should take responsibility for proper rehabilitation of all these youth," Namdeo said.
