Central team visits Solapur village: What damages did they assess in mobile torch light? ask flood-affected farmers

In Yevalwadi and Shirur Kasar talukas, the team inspected a bridge and road that were washed away. In Karegaon, Ghatpimpri and Devlali, the team checked the losses, including widespread soil erosion and crop damages due to excess rains, officials said.

By the time the team reached Solapur villages, it was evening. Most of the villages here are still reeling from power cut as electricity infrastructure at several places have been damaged.

Speaking to Express, Anil Pandurang Deshmukh (40), a farmer from Kolegaon in Mohol taluka of Solapur district, said the Central team arrived around 7 pm when there was complete darkness. ”They tried to inspect the damage using mobile torch light as there was complete darkness. They did not bother to visit the damaged farm land and the destroyed crop. Neither did they visit our homes which have also suffered heavy damage,” he said.

The farmer said, “My house was in 15-feet deep water. All household items have been washed away. We have suffered a loss Rs 10 lakh.”

Deshmukh said he had invested Rs 2.5 lakh in sugarcane crop. ”The entire crop on our four-acre land has been lost and even the farm has suffered heavy soil erosion,” he said. Deshmukh said, ”Firstly, the central team came late, then they were using mobile torch light to see the damage. Is it possible to inspect the damage through mobile torch light.?”

Deshmukh said the central team did not bother to talk to them or listen to their grievances. ”They just visited the ‘bandhara’ (weir) and left. They did not bother to listen to our grievances. They didn’t seem to have time to talk to us,” Deshmukh added.

The farmer said his family sleeps outside their home. ”It has been more than a month. We have no electricity at home or even on farms. We do not have water supply also. I and my family sleep outside our homes as we have no other option. We can’t sleep inside our house as the roof is in a dangerous condition. We can’t even enter our house,” he said.

Rajendra Jagtap, who lives in Ashte village, next to Kolegaon, said he had invested Rs 2 to 2.5 lakh for harvesting sugarcane crop. ”I have lost all my crop on seven acres of land. I thought the central team which visited our village listen to our grievances. But nothing happened. They did not inspect the damages we have suffered. They came to Kolegaon during evening hours and don’t know what they saw in the mobile torch light,” he said.

Jagtap said for more than a month, they have been living without electricity. ”After the floods, electricity supply in our village has been affected. Life has become a nightmare for us,” he said.

Solapur District Collector Kumar Ashirwad, however, denied that the visit to the Solapur villages was part of the central team’s scheduled plan. ”The central team reached Pune around 4 pm. From Pune to Solapur, it takes five hours. On the way, the team expressed the desire to see a worst-affected village. At that time, it was dark, yet they went to the village which was close to the highway and have a look at the situation. They did not inspect or assess the damage. Their actual inspection was to start from today. And therefore, today they visited two talukas in North and South Solapur and assessed the damages caused. Their inspection started around 7.30 am today,” he said.

The collector said, “The villagers mistook the central team’s visit yesterday as part of their assessment of damage caused by the floods and rain. It was not a planned visit. But the team did interact with villagers. Since it was dark, people presented there used mobile torch lights.”

The collector said some of the villagers actually told the central team about the rescue operations carried out by the district collectorate. ”The villagers told them how people stuck on trees were rescued by NDRF team. They also told the central team about the money received from the government for the crop damage,” Ashirwad said.