Nihar Doctor, civil engineer and a resident of Surat, complains that the rest of India didn't know that a river had entered the lanes and bylanes of Surat.
The real story of Surat city's tragedy remains untold. How can one narrate the pain of a city when 70 per cent of the area goes under 15 feet of water?
The total failure of the administration is the telling story of one of the most globalised states of India. Chief Minister Narendra Modi will have a lot of explaining to do about how more than five lakh residents of Rander and Adajan were not sent even a water-bottle for three days.
The people are angry with the local administration, political leaders and even the media for abandoning them to their fate for five days.
Harry Desai of Wilson Towers was disgusted. "Please tell Sonia Gandhi to not visit Surat, instead she should send Congressmen to clean the streets of Surat," he raged.
Mayur Pathak, another resident, says, "It's an utter shame that the Modi government, which has a Disaster Management Authority in place, was completely dysfunctional in Surat for three days."
Dr Inderjit Doctor, a retired professor living in the Citylight area, says, "This is a manmade disaster. In my 80 years in Surat I have never seen something like this. The government should have taken care of water management of the Ukai dam from where flood waters rushed into Surat. You can't play with people's lives."
Image: A day-old baby being carried away from hospital, after the hospital was flooded and authorities refused to take responsibility for the baby.
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Under water, Surat still waits for help
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