12 die as floods ravage Bhiwandi

BHIWANDI: The floods that suddenly swept several towns and villages in Thane district on Wednesday left 12 people dead.
At least 15 others are feared drowned and damage to property and livestock is estimated to run into crores of rupees according to official sources.
Municipal commissioner R.D. Shinde told TNN that over 10,000 people in Bhiwandi alone were affected of which 7,000 had been moved to relief camps.
Textile storehouses and processing units too have been badly affected.
According to the police, 10 people from different villages were found dead on Thursday. Two persons are reported dead in Bhiwandi town.
The heavy rains seemed to have caught the administrative officials on the wrong foot. An officials said that as against the normal rainfall of 65 mm the district received 350 mm this time.
“We rushed our staff in jeeps and boats and requested those staying close to the river to leave. But very few heeded our warnings. Nobody could imagine that the water would flow almost 12 feet above the Bhiwandi-Wada bridge between 12.45 pm and 2pm.
As the river ravages its banks destroying homes and uprooting hundreds those responsible for flood control floundered and were unable to handle the situation. The water came into shanties, small row houses and shops in the Nadi Naka area, Shelar Road, Ajay Park and Gokul Nagar. The flood control tower of the municipal corporation at Nadi Naka and a police check-post were badly affected. The control tower has a wireless set but does not have any divers. It has a staff of three workers and three clerks who have two boats at their command.
An employee said, “We ourselves were stuck on the tower as water came into the ground floor and then surged up to the second. There were many snakes and scorpions in the swirling waters and it was difficult to handle the situation. There was just no way we could rush out and help the marooned with the boats.’’
Mr Shinde said the mechanised boats too proved to be inadequate and on Wednesday evening he and Thane district collector, Iqbal Singh Chhahel, who is camping in Bhiwandi, sought naval helicopters for rescue operations. It is not clear why no request for the choppers was made earlier in the day.
The crisis for the administration worsened when four electric towers at Temghar collapsed disrupting drinking water supply. “But we have pressed in 25 tankers to provide water and have asked for more from the Thane and Kalyan municipal corporations,’’ Mr Shinde said.
On Thursday as the waters receded residents were seen collecting the rain water in bucketfuls to clean their damaged houses. A number of municipal cranes were clearing silt and muck from the water-logged areas. But the huge heaps of garbage along roadsides told a different story—It had obviously not been cleared for days making the condition worse during a crisis like situation like this.
Kamsil Harris, who runs a cyber cafe on the ground floor of an apartment in Ajay Park fears that his six computers have been badly damaged and is not certain if they can be repaired.
Kamil Karnale who was stuck in the Nizampur area of the town spent an anxious time worrying about his livestock on the other side of the river across the Bhiwandi-Wada Road. By the time he reached his cowshed on Thursday morning, 39 of his buffaloes that had been chained had drowned.
The municipality was yet to pick up the dead animals.