Mahad, a small city in Maharashtra 167 km from the financial capital, Mumbai, usually witnesses heavy rainfall during monsoons. However, at a time when the rest of the country was fighting the second wave of COVID-19, the city faced a deep crisis as it was hit by rains.
Mahad tehsil of Maharashtra’s Raigad district witnessed severe rainfalls mid-July this year. The extremely heavy rainfall caused havoc in the Mahad village to the extent that the roads were washed away, houses were flooded, leaving people in a dire state. According to reports, nearly two lakh people were impacted, with some finding refuge on their rooftops.
The intense rainfall, along with excess rainwater from Mahabaleshwar draining into the river Savitri, forced an overflow, wreaking havoc, submerging the city and nearby villages. This led to landslides, power cuts, roads/ houses being washed away, and several animal shelters getting destroyed, leaving the people of the city deprived of basic essentials.
In an exclusive conversation with Mumbai Live, volunteers of Rotary Club of Deonar and local club Rotary Club of Mahad shared their ground-level experience for providing support to those stranded.
"As the news spread, volunteers from the Rotary Club of Deonar swung into action to connect with members from Rotary Club of Mahad to take stock of the situation. Both the clubs worked together to identify support groups and vendors nearby and devised a strategy for distributing the relief material to the locals, said a volunteer. Sadly, the turmoil also cost many lives."
Realising the situation, Rotarian Rajendra Datye together with President Rotarian Sudhir Mehta started gathering insights and worked on a relief plan. A detailed assessment was done to analyze and understand what kind of support could be extended and how. Help from Rotary Club of Deonar members popularly known as ‘Rodeos’ was sought who agreed to distribute the relief material across affected areas and closely monitor the procurement and distribution.
Members of the club said that this project was conceptualized by the Rotary Club of Deonar and executed alongside the Rotary Club of Mahad. "To correctly assess how support could be extended to the affected, a thorough assessment was conducted. It was found that while there was no shortage of food and water other necessities such as bed sheets, blankets, chairs, bedstead, towels, pillows, and tarpaulins were in short supply. Basis the assessment, the team began the procurement process. For this, they had to find the right vendor and the right quality of goods that could be given to beneficiaries. To check the quality of the products being procured, several man-hours were spent, and numerous physical visits were made to the vendor's location."
Sharing about the role of the Rotary Club of Chembur, they said: "The impact of the project was such that the neighbouring club, Rotary Club of Chembur also came forward with help, funding the initiative. The club’s monetary assistance of INR 60,000 made it easier to provide aid to the local people. Apart from this, Rotary club of Deonar also made a contribution of INR 1,83,000 that helped the beneficiaries. It was a combined effort of the volunteers to ensure relief for the affected community. This initiative was completely funded by the Rotary Club of Deonar and Chembur."
For this, Rotarian Dhananjay from the Rotary Club of Mahad went to the Gram Panchayat to get the list of the people to ensure that the ration kits could be appropriately distributed. Reportedly, 500 additional dry ration kits were sent to Mahad.
"In the past, Rotary volunteers have always been prompt in coming forward during disasters and other distressing situations. Within a week, the people of Mahad plummeted from a stable living to facing scarcity on simple daily necessities. Rotaractors and Rotary members from Deonar spent over two days at Mahad, ensuring the timely delivery of the relief material. They travelled to Mahad frequently to ensure aid was reaching the beneficiaries. On the ground, the volunteers from Rotary Club of Mahad led the charge for over 15 – 20 days, ensuring that no family was left behind," a member added.
Through this initiative, 200+ families in and around the village were supported. The total man-hours invested in the project were around 375 hours.
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