Meagre! “Compensation of Rs 10,000is inadequate”

 

 

 

 

In spite of the heavy damages the floods inflicted upon the citizens, the administration has neither taken concrete measures yet to avoid recurrence of a similar tragedy, nor has offered adequate relief to people affected by the floods. Rameshwari Bansod, a resident of Yashwant Nagar near Ambazari Lake, her mother, and two elder sisters are still staring at the challenges in rebuilding their lives which were left devastated by the floods. Rameshwari Bansod another resident of Yashwant Nagar near Ambazari Lake, still awaits the nominal compensation for flood relief promised by the administration. It was a matter of few hours when the September 23 floods destroyed her hard-earned money and disturbed her life. Interacting with ‘The Hitavada’, Rameshwari recounted that night’s horror and also lamented about the inadequate compensation that was announced by the government.

 

“We live in a single-storey house at Yashwant Nagar. That night (September 23), the frequent lightning scared us, but we never thought that flood in Naag river would follow. Heavy rains continued till 2 am. Around 4.30 am, we noticed that flood water started entering our house, and then we panicked,” Rameshwari recalled. Initially, Rameshwari and her two elder sisters started collecting valuables in the house to keep them safe from the ankle-high water. Within another 15 minutes, water level increased up to 4 feet. It became difficult for them to stay inside the house as water level was fast rising. So, they decided to leave the house and took shelter in their neighbour’s house. “We were unable to shut the main door of the house due to waterlogging, so we left it all open,” she said. Those few hours of wait for the water level to recede were the longest in the life of Bansod family. The water level started decreasing after 11 am on September 23, after which the three sisters went back to their house. They were shocked to see that everything in the house was soaked, with mud deposited in the house. It took more than seven days for the family to clean the house. “We are still trying to dry our books,” Rameshwari added.

 

Asked about the compensation and help from the administration, Rameshwari replied with a blend of lament and anger in her voice, “We lost our refrigerator, television, kitchen utensils, books, furniture, clothes etc. The cost of all these run into lakhs of rupees. However, the administration is offering just Rs 10,000, which cannot compensate for all this.” But, there is more that concerns her. It is the fear of recurrence of a similar situation in future. She has a reason to offer. The people in the locality have complained many a time to Nagpur Municipal Corporation that the storm water drainage in the area got choked often during monsoon. But, she rued, no action was taken by the civic body in this regard. Thus, apart from inadequate compensation, fear of impending crisis and undertainty that may arise out of it, is also haunting the residents of the area.