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Journalism of Courage
AROUND 8 pm on Tuesday when the rain was still pouring and water levels were high, Worli resident Mohammed Arif Khan took to the streets on his two-wheeler to rescue those in need. For almost eight hours, Khan scoured the streets in Worli, Kurla, Matunga and Mahim helping those who were stuck in the flood and needed food and shelter. Khan does not remember how many people he rescued and took to safety on Tuesday night but vaguely pegs the number at eight.
Khan was a part an initiative of the Jamat Raza-e-Mustafa – a non-governmental organisation – which had circulated, through social media, the telephone numbers of volunteers in flood-hit areas. “I was a volunteer for Worli area and calls started coming in from around 8 pm,” said Khan. He would ask for the GPS location on WhatsApp and reach the spot as soon as he could.
“There were people from Bhiwandi and Malad. Depending on the number of people calling, I would arrange for more bikers and then leave for the spot,” said Khan. The rescued people were provided water and food. “For those who could not go back home, we made arrangements for overnight stay at nearby mosque,” he said.
At Kurla, a family was stuck in a car and needed food immediately. “Locating the family and reaching them was a challenging task as the roads were inundated. We had to wade through water on foot,” he said.” “I got a call from an elderly man from Mahim station who could not locate his wife in the crowd. Given the water-logging and the incessant rains, it took us a couple of hours to locate her and reunite the couple,” Khan said.
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