Bhopal: (Madhya Pradesh): As rain takes a break and life limps back to normalcy after heavy downpour that caused flood-like in the city on Monday, the people residing in low lying areas have harrowing tales to tell. The inner lanes of the walled city had turned into small streams. The residents had a tough time battling waterlogging in the area.
Rainwater had gushed in several houses giving sleepless nights to residents. Throughout the night, people were seen draining water from houses and protecting the household goods. Talking to Free Press, Raghuveer Singh Rajput, Teelajamalpura resident said rainwater entered his house which is located in a low lying area. Household goods, sofa sets, beds were all soaked. The family had to sleep on the wet floor. A mud house in front of his house was damaged. Rainwater gushed in more than one dozen houses and residents had a tough time draining water, he said.
Rainwater also entered into shops damaging the goods. Amjad Ali of Sanjay Nagar said that some roads of his locality had knee-deep water. People of Nariyalkheda in Nishatpura, Chola locality, Sindhi Colony have similar stories to tell. An auto driver Dilip Verma said that as roads of low lying areas of the old city were submerged in knee deep water, the cab and auto drivers avoided those areas. Water accumulated in vacant plots and open areas in another cause of concern for people living in adjoining areas.
All the pieces of furniture kept in the basement of our shop were damaged. It was filled with 4-foot-deep water. We could not flush out the water due to disruption of power supply for more than 24 hours. We are pumping out the water using a pump today. We have suffered a loss of around Rs 5 lakh.
-Faizan Ansari, owner, Paras Furniture, Bharat Talkies
All the 35 clay idols of Lord Ganesha, which were ready, became wet due to the heavy rain. We had covered them with three layers of polythene but strong winds blew the cover away. Now, we can’t colour the idols till they dry up. We will have to use a cylinder to dry them because the Ganesh Utsav is round the corner. It begins from August 31.
-Lakhan Prajapati, Shri Navyuvak Durga Samiti, Kolipura Jail Road, Jahangirabad
The pieces of furniture were damaged as water gushed into our shop. Though the wooden items will be usable once they are dry, plywood items have been permanently damaged. We have suffered a loss of around one lakh. Water-logging has been happening here for the past three years. I have complained about it many times to the Bhopal Municipal Corporation but to no avail. We don’t have a power or water supply connection.
-Nawab Miyan, New India Furniture, Railway Mal Godam, Hamidia Road
