essay nature does not discriminate but society does
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By the evening of August 3, a good 24-hours before the rains had turned tumultuous in Sangli district of western Maharashtra, the residents of Panchasheel Nagar sensed the approaching danger. Their houses, right at the bank of the magnificent Krishna river – a 1,400 kilometre long water body that is one of the major sources of irrigation for Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh – were already about three feet under the water. By the night of August 4, the water was seven feet high. Over the next two days, the water level was at a deadly 12 feet, submerging most single-storey houses in the locality.
An all-Dalit Buddhist settlement, Panchasheel Nagar, situated outside the Bhilavdi village – a common set-up seen in any village in Maharashtra and elsewhere – was one of the first to be affected by the flood due to its proximity to the river bank. Other affected areas include Dalit and OBC settlements like Sathe Nagar, Maulana Nagar and Sakharwadi. The savarna settlements, on the other hand, belonging to the Jains, Marathas and a small population of Brahmins, are away from the river, at a greater height, and the flood’s impact was negligible.
Of Bhilavdi village’s nearly 13,000 people population, around 30% belong to Scheduled Castes, nomadic tribes and other backward castes. Situated on the border of Kolhapur and Sangli districts, Bhilavdi is one of the worst flood-affected villages. The two districts had remained under water for abut a week and the state administration claims over 7 lakh people had to be shifted to a safer location.
In Bhilavdi, even though the Dalit settlements bore the worst brunt, residents claim they were the last to get access to the rescue team. As many as 12 men aged between 18-40 years, were stuck in the water for over five days. They were rescued only after a fight broke out between the residents of Panchasheel Nagar and the village sarpanch Vijaykumar Chopade. The residents of the Dalit bastis have accused the sarpanch and other village administration officials of discrimination and say they diverted the rescue team to the mostly unaffected upper-caste and Brahmin areas.
On August 3, as the Krishna’s water level began to rise and overflow into the village, some families began to roll up their belongings and shift to nearby structures located at a greater height. Suman Kurane, a 70-year-old partially paralysed woman who was seriously ill and bed-ridden could not be moved immediately to a safer space. Her son Sanjay and daughter-in-law Renuka made a few failed attempts and decided to stay with Suman in the house until some help arrives.
“Water had begun rising at a dramatic speed. There was no way we could have moved aai (mother) in that water. We shifted to the terrace of the neighbouring bungalow that night. By the next morning, the water had reached the terrace’s level,” says Renuka, narrating the event.
The next morning, a team of 12-15 boys from Panchasheel Nagar risked their lives, swimming in the water and doing a door-to-door check to see if anyone was stranded. “In the morning, we raised an alarm and sought help. The boys somehow managed to get the gram panchayat to act and send a boat,” says Suman. This boat too, Suman says, was sent only 24-hours after her family was stranded.
The Bhilavdi gram panchayat had two boats, of which one was defective. The other could accommodate around 20 persons, including a diver. This boat, according to the villagers was first sent to Magdoom gully, a predominantly affluent Jain settlement with a few Maratha and Muslim houses. “Even after the deluge hit us with full force, houses in Magdoom gully – which were mostly unaffected – were evacuated first. Water had entered just a few houses in Magdoom gully’s entrance, that too barely a foot or two. Still, the sarpanch, Vijaykumar Chopade, who is also a Jain, catered to his own community’s needs first,” said Praful Kamble, a resident of Panchasheel Nagar. He has also been at the forefront of handling the flood relief work over the past two weeks. Chopade, strongly denies all such allegations, calling them “baseless and political” in nature.
Villagers say this delay could have cost the 12 youths’ lives if not for the National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF), which took over the relief work on August 9. “I had to fight with the sarpanch to get the boat to our area. The sarpanch and his nephew did not budge until the NDRF stepped in and pressure was built by the residents here,” says Mallawa Kamble, Rahul’s mother.
Chopade, a BJP leader, retorted, “The water current was very sharp and we did not have a trained diver with us. We could not have entered the area and come out safe. So, we took this tough call.” He further added that Magdoom gully was also impacted and the rescue work was the need of the hour.