Floods destroy cricket coach Vidyadhar Paradkar's home

Vidyadhar Paradkar

Thursday's downpour was a nightmare for India batsman Ajinkya Rahane's coach Vidyadhar Paradkar.

Heavy rains left his Grant Road home flooded, something that Paradkar, 74, and wife Pramila, 64, never experienced. Their house is located on the ground floor of Pannalal Terrace building, next to the Gilbert Tank maidan.

Paradkar is a prominent coach of grassroot cricketers in Mumbai. Apart from Rahane, his other famous wards are Zaheer Khan and Wasim Jaffer. He also coached out-of-favour England Test opener Haseeb Hameed.

Paradkar and his wife sincerely followed lockdown regulations since March 23, but on Thursday, they were forced to venture out of their house in waist-deep floods to reach a relative's place in Walkeshwar.

"We thought the flooding would stop if the rain subsided. But the rain only got heavier and the water level started to rise. It almost reached our knees. Without wasting time, my wife and I left the house. We walked through the waist-high water to reach Walkeshwar," Paradkar told Sunday mid-day on Saturday. He blamed the ongoing underground Metro rail work for the flooding in his area. "I've observed in the last few years that a little rain is enough to cause waterlogging in our area. It is because of the Metro rail work. They have damaged and changed the drainage lines and that causes waterlogging. The water that entered my house was from the drains that were chockablock. Several complaints to the BMC and Metro rail authorities have fallen on deaf years.

Cricket coach Vidyadhar Paradkar's Grant Road house was flooded on Thursday

"There are so many people suffering from malaria in our area because of waterlogging," he added.

Paradkar managed to save a bat given to him by Rahane just in time, but has lost a lot of belongings. "My wife called a few people to remove the drain water from the house, but it is stinking like hell. My furniture will definitely need repairing and we will also have to get the house repainted once the monsoons are over," said Paradkar.

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