Hit again, shopkeeper loses all hope

Aparna Banerji

Tribune News Service

Mehrajwala (Lohian), Aug 25

Tragedy has struck a Lohian shopkeeper, Surinder Kumar, second time. After his shops were inundated in 1988, water from the Sutlej has hit his abode and shops again. This time, the sole bread-winner of the family of six doubts whether he will be able to recover from the loss.

“I have lost everything. The government never cares about us,” he says. Surinder received meagre Rs 2,500 as compensation when his shops and adjoining house were damaged in 1988.

Even a week after the floods, his three little shops still have ankle-deep water. Packets of chips, biscuits, bags and little toys float in one of his shops. His house too is inundated.

Wiping off his tears, Surinder says, “The losses weren’t this huge in 1988. I had stored some goods in Lohian so the impact was not as bad. This time, all is lost.”

“I have lost goods worth Rs 5 lakh. I don’t know how will I feed my family,” says Surinder, who set up the shops nearly 50 years ago.

When asked about what hopes he had from the government, he says, “No one visited us. I don’t know how much relief will I get.”

The situation is similar across the village. Families continue to stay on roofs as the water has not receded so far. The roads and houses are full of muck, sludge and plastic wrappings/bottles dropped by relief workers.

His neighbour Baksho says, “Politicians came a few days ago. They visited the nearby bundh and took a whirlwind tour of the village and left. The did not ask us about our losses. It will take decades for us to recover from the losses.”