Deluge-affected gear up to rebuild shattered lives

Sangli: Hundreds of submerged sugarcane farms, damaged houses with only sludge inside, decomposed animal carcasses lying around with people struggling to clean their dwellings to get on with life - this is the scene in several flood-ravaged villages of Sangli and Kolhapur. 

Heavy rains and floods battered several areas of western Maharashtra and Konkan region earlier this month, with Kolhapur and Sangli districts bearing the maximum brunt. 

With the flood waters now receding, residents of these two districts are gradually trying to gather whatever they are left with to rebuild their lives and damaged homes. 

A walk through some of these villages presents a dismal picture of devastation and havoc caused by rain fury and its far-reaching affects on locals. 

A poultry farm on way from Bhilawadi to Brahmanal village in Palus tehsil of Sangli was seen completely washed away in the flood waters, with only muck remaining and a decomposed animal carcass stinking nearby. 

The damaged vegetation and bent electric poles were an indication of the force with which flood waters must have gushed into the area, submerging everything that came its way. 

Heaps of clothes donated by people were seen lying on roadsides as many of the locals did not pick them up because they were worn out. 

In Bhilawadi village, some shop owners were seen cleaning their establishments, with some local groups and NGOs lending a helping hand in disposing of garbage from the area. 

Mauli Salunkhe, 52, a native of flood-hit Brahmanal village now working in a Pune-based company, dubbed it as the Krishna river's wrath, but said they were prepared to rebuild things from scratch. 

"Krishnamai (the mother river) took everything which we had in our houses, but it's ok. We will build our house again," he said. 

He expressed grief over the boat capsize incident on August 8 during a rescue operation near Brahmanal village that killed 17 people. 

"I can only say she (the river) washed away our village. I feel sad that some many people died in the incident," Salunkhe said, adding he managed to shift his aged parents to Pune before the situation worsened in the village.