5L structures across 8 talukas damaged
KASHID BEACH: A TOURIST SPOT RAVAGED BY THE STORM
of Alibag on Thursday covering areas from Murud to Diveagar (north of Shrivardhan). Two roads leading to Shrivardhan were blocked due to a tree fall and the other by a damaged power line, forcing the team to turn back before sunset. Combined with affected power utilities and tree falls (mostly of mango, coconut and arecanut), local villagers were distressed about lack of information about post cyclone restoration efforts, especially across affected villages in remote talukas.
“Not one representative of the state has visited us so far and every household in villages in our taluka has witnessed some damage,” said Saurabh Rajendra Kudekar, village leader at Kude village in Taal taluka.
More than five lakh structures have been damaged across eight of the 15 talukas in Raigad owing to Cyclone Nisarga.
A preliminary assessment has revealed that there have been damages to homes, garages, schools and medical care centres across Alibag, Murud, Tala, Shrivardhan, Margaon, Mhasala, Pen and Roha.
The rooftops of schools, located mostly in villages, have been blown away or partially dilapidated.
“Majority of the affected structures either had tin rooftops that blew away due to the intensity of the cyclone or had very weak foundation during construction. Our estimate of five lakh affected structures may further increase, as there is very little communication with officers from tehsils at the moment, but we will update the losses everyday, said Sagar Pathak, disaster management officer, Raigad.”
The Gharats, who live in Navedar Beli village near Murud, lost a floor of their creek-facing house.
Prabhakar Gharat, 65, said he and his family were eating lunch on Wednesday afternoon when they heard a loud thud and a gush wind burst into their home. On stepping out of their house and looking up, they saw almost three fourth of their upper floor missing. Gharat’s eye caught the sight of parts of the first floor ceiling, window pane, fan and the entire tin shed flying and landing 15 feet away into the mangrove trees at the edge of the creek. He said he and his wife had saved up for about 20 years to construct the two-room first-floor, which they rent out to tourists during the winter.
The 1.2-kilometre (km)-long Kashid beach, which lies 20km south of Alibag, was one of the worst cyclone-affected tourist spots in Raigad district.
As Cyclone Nisarga made landfall in Raigad district on Wednesday, several shacks, food stalls and other structures on the beach were destroyed, after trees fell on them.“after the Covid-19 lockdown was imposed, all shack owners were kept away from the beach. However, now we can’t resume work even after the lockdown is lifted,” said Kashid resident Sandeep Belore.
The impact of the cyclone damaged chairs, tables, kitchen utensils, beds, and other things inside the shacks. “My house and the shack I own, have both been badly damaged. My husband
“We had no idea that the cyclone could cause this much damage. Nobody warned us,” said a teary-eyed Pradnya, Gharat’s wife. Gharat said an official from the collector’s office, who inspected the site, informed the couple that the cost to restore the upper floor is estimated to be ₹4 lakh. “We will also be incurring an annual loss of ₹1.5 lakh, which we used to make from renting out the room,” he said.
The family also suffered additional losses after an electric pole landed on their doorstep an hour after the top floor collapsed. “We are lucky that no one sustained injuries,” said Jagannath, Gharat’s passed away last year. There is no network to contact any relative. How am I to manage in such circumstances?” said Sangeeta Sanjay Bhendekar, 50, another resident.
District officials said Kashid gets thousands of tourists every weekend. “The width of the beach at Kashid is much smaller than other beaches, with a number of large coconut trees aligned over the beach. The trees fell on the structures on Wednesday. The situation is better at the other beaches in the district,” said Sagar Pathak, disaster management officer, Raigad.
“It will take months to recover from the damages. This year’s earnings will be impacted,” another local, Rajesh Wagre said.
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At Mandad and Kude villages near Diveagar – the cyclone’s landfall site in Raigad – around 400 students across two schools may have to wait longer to attend classes after the lockdown, as the cyclone blew off the roof of their dilapidated school buildings. Chairs, tables and books were scattered on the floor.
“We thought that the cyclone will not do much damage, as there are no trees located close to the school. However, after almost an hour, a strong wave battered the entire area,” said Atul Karanje, 16, a student of the high school near Mandad village.