Posted On: 2021-08-19 09:55:17
The people of Maharashtra and their bond with the season
The season of rain is close to the hearts of the ones living in Maharashtra. Rainfall never ceases to surprise the people living in the state. People wait every year for this refreshing season, where nature seems to grow greener and the water reservoirs seem to fill higher. Every year, the rainfall crosses its previously set record and even occurs before its predicted time due to the growing global warming. Not a single year goes by where the Mumbai locals don't get super delayed or even stop at times, stopping the life of the working class trying to reach their offices on time. Though the bosses seem to understand the delay of the employee because of the rain, the rain doesn’t seem to understand the urgency of people rushing to their work.
Flood of July 2021
When it first started drizzling during mid-July 2021, the rain shower made the climate overwhelming, making people smile and giving them a chance to enjoy hot tea with fritters or some street-roasted corn. But soon the climate grew wilder and the thunder roared louder, the sky got darker and the rivers overflowed
The rainfall decided to break all the set records of the past years and showed the people of Maharashtra its wrath. The continuous rainfall terrified the hearts of people, flooded numerous houses, and stranded many.
The pleasant rain turned into a growling monster and the overflowing dams were opened making the situation worse, though for some drought-prone areas it was bliss for some, it was a curse. In the urban cities of Mumbai, Thane, and Palghar orange alert was issued and people were asked to stay indoors. In the districts of Pune, Satara, Raigad, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, and Kolhapur, a Red alert was issued and evacuation of people was started. The majorly affected places were the coastal ones. The water level in many places in Sangli rose to around 65 feet, drowning the city. The situation was observed in most of the places of high alert. According to an article published in the daily newspaper 'Mint', more than 4,34,185 people were evacuated from the regions of the red alert and taken to rescue camps. In places of high altitude, 308 relief camps were set up where the evacuated people were asked to stay till the situation settles.
This year, the rain didn’t go easy on the castles as well and in this terrifying rainfall, more than 58,722 of these innocent domesticated animals lost their lives. The death toll among humans has crossed 209 and many people are still missing.
Landslides due to rain
The other downfall of the heavy rainfall was landslides. Incidents of boulder fall and mudslides were reported at more than five locations between Kasara and Igatpuri Ghat, which is around 14kms long. Not just this, the heavy rainfall increased the losses of the soils in many regions which increased the chances of landslides in the future. Among the 209 people who lost their lives, most of them died in the mudslide incidents.
As always, the rain didn't forgive the Mumbai locals, and the tracks were filled with knee-deep water. Also, the incidents of boulder fall blocked the tracks which led to the cancellation of many trains, especially the long journey trains measuring the distance between Mumbai to Pune. The trains between Kasara and Igatpuri were canceled on spot and when the rain settled and tracks were clear to the eyes, a team was immediately sent to the tracks and the reconstruction of the tracks with the removal of boulders was undertaken. In a couple of hours, the trains were back on track.
Crowdfunding
In times of trouble, crowdfunding platforms help people by acting as a bridge between people who want donations and people who need donations. During these troubled times of floods and landslides, many foundations raised campaigns on these platforms to help people by giving them relief supplies.
Just like many other foundations, the renowned Khushiyaan Foundation raised a campaign on Filaantro, a crowdfunding platform to help the stranded people by providing them relief material in form of dry ration kits, soaps, and sanitary pads. They have already distributed the relief materials to more than a thousand beneficiaries in Odisha, West Bengal, Bihar, Old Mahabaleshwar, Sangli, and Chiplun.
During tough times like this one, we need to stand together and fight every evil together.
Author : Hritika Singh
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