Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): It was just 6:30am on August 3. As it was absolutely bucketing down the air was tangy with mud.
The torrential rain turned the roads and the farmlands in Sheopur district of Madhya Pradesh into rivulets.
At 8:30am, a social worker Ashish Chouhan, resident of Pilikothi in the city, got a call from a friend that the low-lying areas in Kamalkhedi and Gandhi Nagar in Sheopur town were under waist-deep water.
The residents were yelling for help, the friend said. No sooner had Ashish received this piece of information than he and his friends plunged into action.
And, in a few seconds, they collected as many tyre tubes as possible to reach the deluged areas.
As soon as they got ready, they began to wade through waist-deep water but soon realised it would not work for a long time, and just then, they found themselves in neck-deep water. They had to spin through it.
The rain, in the meantime, continued to rip through the city.
By the time they reached their destination – the low-lying areas – they could only see the top of the houses. The rest of the floors of those buildings were under water.
Many residents went to the rooftops to protect their families from the deluge. The carcasses of dogs, cats and cows were floating around Ashish and his team members. They had no time to see all this.
As a few places were still accessible they reached there and shifted some people to a school behind Jayashri Palace.
Ashish said the deluge ravaged 60% of 1,50,000 inhabitants in the city. Nearly 100 flood-hit crammed into the school building, which was too small to house more.
Many residents then opened their doors to the flood-affected, he said.
There was a problem with food. Many residents could not cook, as they had to scuttle for cover.
Ashish and his band of boys never fell short of people assisting them. Food packets were ready by 5pm.
The next hurdle they had to overcome was to reach those houses to hand over the food packets to those who were trapped there.
Most of the houses were under 15-foot water.
There was no light, besides. The snakes and other poisonous creatures were lurking around. Except for the sounds of rainfall and the croaking of toads, nothing could be heard.
On the other hand, the cataracts of water as high as the first floor sluiced along.
Ashish Chouhan |
Ashish’s boys did not give up. They yoked a few tubes to a rope. Ashish, then, set out to distribute those food packets with the help of those tubes.
He reached the balconies of several houses. The residents took those fare packets with the help of sarees or ropes.
Many youths in the district did the rescue operation, Ashish said.
No one can forget the youths of Bhainskheda. Imambara and Kila area. They worked round the clock to rescue the distressed.
Ravenous rivers like Parvati and Aheli ravaged many areas in other parts, he said.
Similarly, the Sip River and the overflowing Awada dam connected to it wreaked havoc in Sheopur city.
On August 4, as the flood waters began to recede, they breathed a sigh of relief. They, then, changed their mud-caked clothes.
Yet, Ashish says, they cannot sleep soundly, as they have to clean up the debris.
