handwritten manuscripts

Sangli Jilha Nagar Vachanalay

cultural events

municipal corporation

computer system

The damaged books include some rare handwritten manuscripts, biographies and autobiographies

Photos: Sangli struggles for basic necessities as floods destroy houses, roads 1 9 Houses covered in sludge Houses have been completely destroyed due to the floods. Every day, people of Sangli wake up to a new day and get back to cleaning their houses and setting them up again. The floors of the houses have been layered with sludge, walls have chipped and broken off due to the rainwater and ceilings have been leaking from a number of places, making it difficult for residents to stay inside their houses. Clothes, utensils and furniture have been washed away leaving everything inside their households in a mess. Photo by Sachin Haralkar/ BCCL Books reduced to pulp As many as 40,000 books have been destroyed after being submerged in eight-foot-deep water for three days at the 150-year-old Sangli Jilha Nagar Vachanalay in Sangli. This includes some priceless handwritten manuscripts depicting the traditional culture of the areas, which have now been reduced to pulp. Those that can be saved have been put out to dry in the sun. Photo by Sachin Haralkar/ BCCL Locals participate in cleanliness drive The toughest challenge, perhaps, is to dispose off wet and rotten garbage every day to prevent the outbreak of an epidemic. “With the help of citizens and organisations, we have removed 4,000 tonnes of garbage on Saturday alone. The flow of waste is unrelenting as people have been discarding things destroyed by the flood. We have taken help from environmental organisations for waste disposal. They are spraying disinfectants, which have also reduced the stench. We have a tough task at hand to restore normal life," said Municipal Commissioner Mallinath Kalshetti. Photo by Sachin Haralkar/ BCCL Ganpati idols destroyed ahead of the festival The floods have also ruined the business of idol makers. “My 250 Ganesh idols were destroyed and the ones I could save have to be re-worked on. I have suffered tremendous losses this year,” said Manoj Velangekar, idol maker from Kolhapur’s Kumbhar Galli. People from all over the state have extended their help to the flood-affected people. One such person is sculptor Sachin Sethe who has volunteered to send Ganpati idols to these regions to help the people celebrate the upcoming festival of Ganesh Chaturthi. Photo by Sachin Haralkar/ BCCL Houses destroyed in Sangli Manik Pawar from Bhilwadi village of Sangli district revealed that his house is so badly affected that only a heap of bricks has been left in its place. All things, utensils, furniture is gone with the floodwater. He said, "We were 12 people in the house including a five month old baby. We sent women and children out first to a safe location as the water level started increasing. But we also could not wait for long. When we came back after five days, the house had collapsed and just these bricks were left. It was a pucca house." Photo by Sachin Haralkar/ BCCL Struggling to hold on to hope About 50 houses in Maulana Nagar are damaged beyond repair. People are staying in camps or with their relatives. "Nothing is left here. The house has collapsed and the water has not lept anything untouched. We have rented a room temporarily and are staying there. We do not know how do we make our living," said Pawar. Photo by Sachin Haralkar/ BCCL Lack of basic amenities Bhilwadi is one of the worst-hit areas in Sangli district. Roads are still full of mud and heaps of garbage and debris are yet to be cleared. Electricity has also not reached all households. The major problem, however, is that of drinking water. Fields and farms have been completely destroyed. In Chopdewadi village, at least 85 cattle were lost due to floods. Photo by Sachin Haralkar/ BCCL Survival on external help "We are surviving on the external help sent by people. There is no gas to cook or electricity for any household. Our local MLA is supplying cooked food for us from the last 12 days. We have nothing at home - no grains, no food, no clothes. Hence we collect things from the help trucks," Savita Shete who was waiting in the queue said. Photo by Sachin Haralkar/ BCCL Roads washed away Shopkeepers have brought in small tractors to clear at least one feet thick mud and slush on the roads. The roads have been washed away due to the floodwaters. The narrow lanes have a traffic jam at some places as help trucks from across the state are constantly going to different villages with essential goods and food items. Photo by Sachin Haralkar/ BCCL

Library was flooded for three days; digital records lost too.Apart from causing widespread damage to life and property, the flood in Sangli has also left an indelible mark on the cultural strand of the city. As many as 40,000 books have been destroyed after being submerged in eight-foot-deep water for three days at a 150-year-old library. This includes some pricelessthat have now been reduced to pulp.Those that can be saved have been put out to dry in the sun.The two-storeyedhouses a library on the ground floor with several floor-toceiling racks crammed with almost 1.5 lakh books, and full-length halls on each of the upper floors whereare hosted.The flood caused by incessant rain had inundated the city for almost 5 days. The library, which is in its 150th year, is located next to theoffice which also suffered lasting damage.Of the 1.5-lakh-strong collection, countless books are beyond restoration. As thehas also been destroyed, the library authorities are faced with an impossible task of assessing the scale of the damage.“We were supposed to celebrate our 150th anniversary this month. But the flood has destroyed thousands of books. We have lost all the records also. We are doing our best to rescue the books and records,” lamented Suhas Karandikar, joint secretary of the library.The library is home to books in Marathi, Hindi and Kannada and used to be part of a personal collection of the royal family of Sangli Chintamani Patwardhan. Later, it was turned into a public library where patrons were given access to a range of books for a nominal fee of Rs 50 per month. However, like other institutions of its kind, this too has been struggling to survive in the digital world.“The fictional books can be replaced easily. But the eclectic mix of biographies and autobiographies we had are rare to find. Our computer system is also down which makes it difficult to say immediately which books we lost. We have appealed to people to donate books and help us in restoring the library,” added Karandikar.