Downpour : A documentary

/ Rupali
  • Paddy fields – July 2019

As the topic suggests this post is all about “Downpour“, suggested by Kate for “Friday Fun“. Moreover this week Tina gave us freedom to choose our topic for lens-artists-photo-challenge so let it be “Downpour”. A little downpour is fun but continuous downpour results in Flood.

In 2019, the monsoon season started quite well in Western Maharashtra region in India. People were happy and started preparing for forth coming festivals in August and September.

During our India visit we travelled to a couple places in this region. The monsoon weather was perfect to enjoy the breathtakingly beautiful green surroundings.

Sugarcane field

Usually it pours on and off with a couple of managable floods. Last year near end of July it started to downpour without any rest.

We were fotunate enough to leave the region on right time as in less than a couple of hours the dam doors were opened to release huge amount of water resulting massive flood. Almost all highways in the region were blocked for weeks. Sadly thousands of people got affected. The giant Banayan tree and the water pumping station (shown above) were totally submerged in water for more than a week. With 1,000-2,000 families residing in this particular village, the village headman said that at least 150 animals were dead and stuck in the fields though the exact number was not known then.

Teams of Indian Army along with seven teams of National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) were called and people were rescued using boats from flooded areas. Water level in certain area reached the mark of 55.4 ft when danger level is 43 ft.

Over 130 000 people were evacuated in the region. Many villages are located on the banks of local rivers which are tributaries of Krishna, the largest river in Maharashtra which flows through Satara, Sangli, and Kolhapur and then runs through four states before culminating into the Bay of Bengal.

Rivers were overflowing following incessant rains between August 5 to 8 in 2019, totaling around 900 mm of rain, which was over 400 percent above normal, an official from India Meteorological Department said. 

  • The roof tops are seen.

Floods are acts of God, but flood losses are largely acts of man  ~ Gilbert F. White

In January 2020, we visited a place which was not very far from the above shown places. The aftermath of flood was cleary visible but locals were getting back to a normal life.

References:

61 thoughts on “Downpour : A documentary”

  1. An amazing post Rupali, how very sad for the local people. The image of the rooftops says it all. And yet there is so much beauty – I hope the beautiful banyan tree survived, and that the people were able to rescue their homes when the floods receded.

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    • Thanks Tina.

      We planned to visit these places in July 2020 but had to cancel our trip in July and now in December due to the well known reason. We are looking forward to our trip next summer 🙂

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  7. I remember this. My friend is posted in Kolhapur and she was rescued from her building where she had to jump from her balcony on the first floor onto the boat. It was too scary for her since she lives alone there. She was stuck without electricity and managed with the food she had already stocked in the fridge.

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  8. My heart goes out to everyone who has been affected by the floods Rupali and the animals who lost their lives. May their spirits rest in peace 💜🕊

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  9. A great report on what India experiences all too often during monsoon! Lovely shots of the local area and to say that tank and huge tree were underwater gives us a clear indication of the damage done. The smell as the mud dries out is something else!

    In HP monsoon often caused landslides, some roads were cleared about a year later but they never repaired some small village roads …

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  11. Having lived through tropical storms and floods here, I have some understanding of what these poor people went through. We’ve been through rescuing people with boats, and dropping feed for stranded cattle — not to mention losing hundreds of homes. Still, we live here. It’s home, and if nothing else, we’ve become quite good at rebuilding!

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  14. This brought tears to my eyes. This is so sad. Flooding is horrible. 😦 I’m so sorry to hear about how many people were affected so devastatingly…and sad for the loss of life…sad about so many animals.
    Your photos tell the story vividly, Rupali.
    (((HUGS)))

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  18. Perfect and great shots of our monsoons, Rupali. This year also we had bad monsoons and where I stay every year it floods but this time the rain water did not go down for more that 12 hours and they closed our electricity also for one whole day. This is India and we cannot do anything about it.

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  19. Just last month Hyderabad and Madras (Chennai) were inundated with massive floods of Biblical proportions. Unfortunately, Indian government does not regulate the overflows of water as is done here, along the River Mississippi.

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    • No they don’t. Our goverments do not work cordially. They are always in me v/s you mode be it between states or states and central. Workign towards the progess and safety of people is not on agenda.
      I know it’s riduculous but that’s the reality.

      Thanks for reading it Zakiahji.

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  20. A grim reminder of power of Nature. Whenever I think rain an the Western ghats, it’s the beautiful images of Lonavala and many such places that comes to mind. And yet when rain persists the miseries are untold.
    Growing up in the annually flooded Brahmaputra plains of Assam, I saw the ravaging of floods once too often, and the damages it brings along.
    Your post creates great awareness Rupali. And on the good things, great photos, esp that little girl in the beginning 💖

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    • You need no reminders. It’s all so devasting yet we the people and the administration never learn that’s the irony.

      Thanks a lot Deb. It’s a tradition in some villages to take the flood water to temple to offer it to Goddess Durga. Monsoon is so important for our economy and lives.

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  21. Fact that it is a natural calamity, no government can really control it.
    But other than that, the Western Ghats are my favourite getaway destinations. Plus, the moderate monsoons make them look really breath-taking.

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    • Thanks Reena. The prominent green colour of monsoon is sucha delight.
      We can’t ignore many factors related to flood damages which should be controlled by administration like the unplanned development, encroachments in riparian zones, poor drainage infrastructure, deforestation, land use change and sedimentation in river beds are exacerbating floods. Neglect of Pre-Disaster Planning: history of flood management shows that focus of disaster management has largely been on post-flood recovery and relief.

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  25. Great photojournalism Rupali. Sacramento lies near 2 rivers and on an aggressive rainfall one of them usually overflows its banks resulting in park and other closures. We live far enough away to not get damage from a major flood. Here it’s a gentle balance as when to let water out of the lakes and not have the rivers flood. Beautiful post.

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  26. Dear Rupali, it probably is in Indian blood to downplay and put each and everything on the government. We as a society have failed as much because it is seen decades after decades that we indians are good at putting the blame somewhere, not on the society because there are no specifics involved then. I think with the population we have, aspirations and a complexity of the highest order, this chaos yet till now we all trying make a pattern connecting dots, making even though slow but somewhere little progress is not that disheartening.

    I imagine Maharashtra is blessed with natural beauty, filled in people and language.
    Was happy to go through this post.

    My wishes
    Nara x

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