Roofs of our homes were flying in the air

The cyclone has left the village, spread over 1,119 acres and with a population of a little over 1,000, competely ravaged. Pics/Shailesh Bhatia

A small village called Pimploli, nestled between Karla and Kamshet, and a short distance from Lonavala, in Raigad district took a major hit during Cyclone Nisarga, with over 70 per cent homes damaged.

"The cyclone hit the village around 1 pm and the next three hours were catastrophic. The wind speed was so intense that small houses could not withstand the force. Tin and cement roofs were literally flying in the air, full-grown trees were uprooted around our homes, adding to the already existing fear. We bundled up with our families in our small crumbling homes" said Santosh Bomble, a local resident and an actor.

According to Sunanda Kedari, who heads the village Gram Panchayat, apart from the massive rebuilding of their homes, the villagers are also facing one of the biggest blackouts of services. "Nearly 30 electric poles have fallen. Without electricity, we cannot operate our welding machines, a much-needed tool to fix roofs. The linesmen, along with the help of villagers, are doing their best to restore power."

Her deputy, Nanda Sandeep Choure, said that on the bright side, the village school, which is responsible for giving nearly complete education to the village children had suffered minimum damage and would be operational once schools are allowed to restart.

Providing the statistics, which the government officials have been collecting for the last couple of days, Uday Kamble, the local talathi added that the village, which is spread barely over 1,119 acres, has a population of over a thousand.

"According to the data collected so far, 150 of the 190 houses have been damaged in Pimploli. Luckily, there were no injuries or causalities. We have also collected the Aadhaar and bank details of the affected so that once the final assessment is made, their compensation can be directly transferred to the individual bank accounts. We also have the data of the adjoining village Taje, where over 45 per cent of the 180 homes have been damaged," Kamble said.

The Village Development officer, Nutan Raosheb Amolik, said that her department is aware of the problems faced by the villages due to lack of electricity, but given the quantum of work, involving the fixing of distribution panels, the poles and the entire wiring to each and every household, villagers could have to wait a little longer for the full electric supply to resume.

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