Assam flood: Homemaker returns home after 20 days, finds memories destroyed
A homemaker in Assam's Sivasagar town returned to her flooded home on Sunday, 20 days after fleeing with her two minor daughters, to find wedding
A homemaker in Assam's Sivasagar town returned to her flooded home on Sunday, 20 days after fleeing with her two minor daughters, to find wedding photographs ruined, her late mother's dinner set scattered, and her daughters' study tables toppled with their books and supplies destroyed. With ankle-deep water still inside the house, Nasiman Zaman said her biggest worry was not just rebuilding her home, but whether there would be any assurance that such devastation would not happen again when it next rains heavily. Read Full Story Zaman and her daughters have been staying at her husband's sister's house in another part of the town since escaping on July 21. She said around 15 people, including her brother-in-law's family and a sister-in-law's family, are now living there together. While she said they were fortunate to have relatives to stay with, she added that both she and her daughters were afraid of returning to their own home. "Our house is on the ancestral land of my husband's family. My brother-in-law's house is next to ours, and besides his is the house of their cousin.
All our houses have been inundated, with some facing worse situation than us even," Zaman told PTI. She said the water was four feet high and had entered the ground floor of her two-storeyed house over the lower sill of the window when she left at around 6 pm on July 21. During the day, she had engaged four workers to move some household goods to the upper floor, which is still under construction. "My husband, who is a government employee, was away on official work in Guwahati. Water started entering the house around noon, and within six hours, it was nearly at my chest level. It was getting dark, power had been cut off, and we somehow managed to come out," she recalled. Zaman said she was able to save a few electronic gadgets, some clothes, ornaments and important documents, but most other things in the house, from the sofa set to beds, almirahs and utensils, were damaged. "My husband and I went to see the house today, and found ankle-level water still.
The study tables of our girls have been toppled and all their supplies destroyed. The album with our wedding memories has been destroyed. Every small thing that made the house our 'home' has been damaged," she said. Describing their present situation, she said, "We are about 15 people now living under one roof. We are among the luckier ones as we have our own family to stay with. But we have to go back to our own place. My daughters are scared to return, and so am I. What will happen when it rains again?" Zaman said water from the Nazira side, one of the worst-affected areas in the flood, entered their locality behind the Circuit House before flowing into the Dorika river, which was already in spate, and then submerged nearby areas. "I am no expert, but as a resident of the area, I can understand that there is a problem of drainage. Natural culverts and outlets have narrowed due to road and bridge constructions. Water is being pumped out, but it is not adequate," she said.
The BriefWire