Help and hostility in deluge

Khushnuma Khambatta, a lecturer in fashion technology at Shreemati Nathibai Damodar Thackersey (SNDT) Women’s University, was unwilling to relive for Parsiana her harrowing experience on August 29, 2017, saying that it "had already received enough uncalled for publicity.” She was one of the many Bombay residents affected by the heavy rains that lashed the city on August 29 flooding many areas. The city received over 300 mm of rain, which was the equivalent of 11 days of average daily monsoon rainfall.
Mumbai Mirror (MM) of September 2, carried her ordeal: "While I was driving back alone from Juhu, it started to rain heavily. The roads were getting flooded quickly so I decided to stop at the (Gope Nivas) Sion society... Shortly after I drove into the society, this man started slamming his hand on my window. I was startled... I tried to reason with him that I would leave once the rains eased. But he kept saying I was violating the society’s rules by parking my car inside.” The man, later identified as Pravin Dedhia, the secretary of the society threatened to deflate the tyres of Khambatta’s car. Residents of the society are planning to seek action against Dedhia, stated the MM report.

Khushnuma Khambatta: received mixed reactions when the city was awash Photo: Wikipedia

It was Dedhia’s belligerence that brought Palak Vijan, resident of the housing complex to Khambatta’s rescue. "Her mother made fresh rotis for me and served me lunch. The entire family was so warm and friendly. I was treated like one of their own,” she said. Khambatta later went to a family friend’s house, which was nearby, and spent the night there.
A video of Khambatta reasoning with and appealing to Dedhia to allow her to take shelter in the Society was posted on social media sites by her and her husband, sculptor Arzan. Grant from Gandhi
Varun Gandhi (pictured), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member of parliament (MP) has pledged five crore rupees (USD 778,600) from his Member of Parliament Local Area Development Fund to build a state of the art pediatric wing in Sultanpur in UP (Uttar Pradesh), following the tragedy that took the lives of 60 children over a period of five days in August 2017 at Baba Raghav Das Medical College Hospital (BRDMCH) in UP’s Gorakhpur, said The Hindu of August 15, 2017. Gandhi represents Sultanpur in parliament.
The MP (@varungandhi80) tweeted on August 13 that "the human tragedy in Gorakhpur has left me jolted.” The pledge will be accompanied by a matching grant of five crore rupees to be "raised personally through donations and collections from corporate social responsibility funding,” Gandhi was quoted in the newspaper. "While grieving the terrible loss of lives of all the children, the incident must act as an impetus to take actions that serve as a deterrent to recurrence of such an event,” he said. The death of the children was allegedly due to lack of oxygen cylinders.
The MP is hopeful that the pediatric wing which will include an in-house research center that would work on prevention of air and water borne diseases "will be fully functional in six months.” Three ambulances and a 100-bed intensive care unit are also envisaged.
The state health minister Siddharth Nath Singh has in interviews refuted the allegations that the deaths in Gorakhpur occurred due to lack of oxygen. "A magisterial enquiry is on – if something comes out, we will definitely take further action,” he told The Economic Times on August 14. Meanwhile, NDTV reported 19 further deaths of children at BRDMCH, including four from encephalitis, in 24 hours, on August 30.
The 37-year-old son of union minister for women and child development Maneka and the late Sanjay Gandhi was inducted as national general secretary of the BJP in March 2012, becoming the youngest person to hold that post in the history of the Party. Varun is a grandson of former Prime Minister Indira and Feroze Gandhi.